Half-a
by The Moyashi Beansprout Midget
Summary: Daniel has been dead for over one hundred years. But, when the Fentons move into the building and build a Ghost Portal, Daniel can't help but be curious. When he accidentally turns it on, some of the ectoplasm that had developed over his DNA was destroyed. Now, Danny is alive again, half-human, half-ghost, and the adoptive son of the Fentons. AU
1. Accident

**Okay, first DP fic since entering the Phandom recently. Got this idea while trying to develop my planned Dani one-shot. Maybe this'll work. Probably won't, though.**

 **Disclaimer: DP franchise is not mine. Butch Hartman's and Nickelodeon's. If so, the series would not have ended on Phantom Planet. Or, it'd have a reboot.**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

One hundred years was a long time.

Within one hundred years, humans went from being grounded to soaring the skies; from walking to driving; from sending letters to email. And, within the same period, families expanded and shrunk, generations subtracting and adding.

The entire world had changed over one hundred years, but not him.

Not Daniel.

He had remained the same through the past hundred years or so. He watched the town around him change through the windows of his 'home'. Buildings rose higher and higher into the sky; planes flew over head, cars raced by on the streets, all slowly becoming bigger and better.

But, even with all of the changes in the world, Daniel could barely recall his short childhood from days long passed. A gray sky, the flickering lanterns, and tons of puddles. Happiness and playfulness. No fear.

Then, the accident happened.

It was all so fast, Daniel had been knocked unconscious for the longest time possible. He could not recall much; an explosion, something that sounded like screaming, and whirls of red, orange, and yellow swallowing him up.

When he awoke again, Daniel found himself at a nearby hospital, people rushing around him a hurried crowd, shouting at each other. The pain was so intense; it were as if it were eating from his insides out. Moving was excruciatingly painful; even blinking hurt. So, when the movement of his chest started to slow, the surrounding crowd became even more frantic, more shouting and screaming occurring.

Then, his chest stopped moving completely.

It wasn't long after his death that Daniel woke yet again, finding himself floating in a green void, his memories pretty much gone. Bits of land floated about; dark doors hung in the air, leading to other places. Beings flew around, carrying on their days, as if their environment didn't shock them.

What Daniel hadn't realized then was that he had became a ghost, dying before he was supposed to have. Almost minutes after waking up again, he was dragged back into the world of the living, Earth, and became bound to the hospital he had died in, with no known way of passing on peacefully.

At first, Daniel watched the nurses rush about, tending for patients and dealing with the problems that they faced everyday. Invisible to the human eye, he didn't mind watching, as long as he wasn't alone.

But, that didn't last too long, as nine years later, the hospital was forced to close its doors. Everyone left, taking tools and furniture with them, moving to a newer, better building that the previous, combining with other hospitals and doctors to create one big congregation.

Now alone, and bound to the former hospital, Daniel the ghost had no where to go, nothing to do, and became lost. On the very rare occasion, a passing ghost came through. But, beyond that, the young teen remained in solitude, never aging, and filled with an endless void of sadness.

Slowly the years passed, and Danny watched them all unfold outside what became his bedroom, the head doctor's office. He watched the first cars drive on the city's roads. He saw kids walking by to school, laughing and smiling, something Daniel had almost forgotten how to do.

He was no longer happy; being forced to stay in the same building for one hundred years took its toll, and left Daniel hollowed out. He eventually came to the conclusion that he would remain at the empty building forever, watching the world progress like a spectator.

Then came the Fentons.

They were newlyweds; deciding to settle down in the little town of Amity Park, Colorado for no apparent reason. Both were scientists, and bought the one-hundred-year vacant building. They fixed the dreary and dated facade, turning it into a single family home with hopes to raise their children.

But, what Daniel learned early on was that these two weren't ordinary scientists; they were ghost hunters, and had moved to Amity Park because of recent 'spikes in ghost sightings' (at least, that's what Daniel had heard). At first, Daniel was relieved; almost happy of sorts. He could finally, possibly, rest in peace.

But Daniel's feelings towards his new roomies soon changed when one of their contraptions (something with the word 'Fenton' in front of it) tracked him down in the room above after smacking him in the head. He had then realized quickly that the Fentons wouldn't help him; they would hunt and kill him instead.

More time flew by, and, even with the addition of a single child, a daughter the proud parents named Jasmine, Daniel often found himself hiding from these Fenton Machines. Luckily for him, the daughter Jasmine, or Jazz as she told her parents, disliked ghost hunting, and stuck to her studies. The only people who were any possible threat to him were Jazz's parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton.

Eventually, Jack and Maddie started to build a large contraption in their basement. Sometimes, Daniel would watch them tinkering away at the walls, babbling about their work and how they would be awed across the globe for reaching the Ghost Zone. But, even Daniel knew, despite not being able to return to the Zone; no human could break through to the dimension. It had never been done.

Yet, here Daniel found himself, eight years after the Fentons' began the project, staring straight ahead at the (effectively named) Fenton Ghost Portal. Completed and sparkling, it sat twenty feet underground, and buried into the wall. While the Fentons had tried using it time and time again, they had found themselves failing every try.

Daniel even kept count; 71 tries within the past week of trying to break through to an alternate dimension.

Daniel never really cared so much about his human roommates; as long as they stayed out of his room (which, luckily for him, was completely walled off). Yes, the blinking contraptions and large mechanisms were troublesome; but nothing a 100-year-old ghost couldn't handle.

So, why was he in the basement, staring at their creation?

Was it the thought of possibly going to the Ghost Zone, where he had only been too once in his ghostly life? There were other people like him; people who died before their time, and became ghosts. They knew his situation.

Or...was it something else?

Hearing thumps slowly coming down the stairs behind him, the ghost boy quickly jumps towards the closest wall, turning intangible, and floating straight through. Poking his head out seconds later, Daniel sees a large, dark-haired man in a orange jumpsuit, walking around with another odd object in his arms.

Almost immediately, Daniel could tell that it was Jack Fenton, the 'man of the house' as he put it. It was the most ghost-prone out of the family; just a mention of the word 'ghost' a mile away would set him off.

"Today will be the day, I promise! I'll reach the Ghost Zone, and destroy every one of those pesky creatures!"

With a small sigh, Daniel couldn't help but shake his head. Every day, around the same time, Jack came down to the basement and proclaimed that very same statement. Despite the failures everyday, Jack still tried to achieve his goal; in an annoying way yes, but, he tried everyday.

Seeing how Jack was setting up for the first Portal launch of the day, Daniel decided to head up to his room and continue to wait the day away. This time, though, the ghost boy pops his invisible head in the kitchen, where he saw Maddie Fenton, decked in a blue jumpsuit similar to her husband's, waving off Jasmine who was leaving the house.

Sighing, Daniel continues his way up into his favorite room in the house: his makeshift bedroom, originally the large, almost-sealed-off attic. Originally a crawl-space of sorts when the hospital was located in the building, Daniel had adapted the open space to his tastes.

There was an old bed (one from the hospital days), blankets and pillows he had taken from the family, and other trinkets and things he had found in his one hundred years in the house. It wasn't much, since he couldn't leave the boundaries of the house, but it was enough that it satisfied him

But, what made the teen ghost almost happy, was the views he got atop the Fentons' large Ghost Shield Defense System (how Daniel remembered all that was beyond him).

It was still within the house's boundaries, but gave him the closest thing he had to freedom; something he hadn't felt since 1897. He could just sit at the top, let the breeze blow by, and admire the city and surrounding Rocky Mountains landscape. But, he could never stay out long; he didn't want anyone to see him.

Now though, the clouds hung over the town of Amity Park like a shadow, threatening the day with rain. With nothing to do, Daniel decides to stay in his 'room', day-dreaming almost of what his life could have been, had he remembered everything.*

 **XxXxXxXxXxX**

Twelve hours surprisingly passed in a flash, something Daniel didn't even realize till Maddie and Jack decided to stop for the night (also after Jazz claimed that they were 'neglecting her'). He had been watching them tinker and test the Ghost Portal a good half of the afternoon, still wondering why he was so awed by the 'machine', before the decided to end testing.

After the Fentons cleaned up the basement area (or as Jack called it, 'The Lab'), they both went upstairs, and that was the last Daniel saw of them for the night. In fact, he would've done the same thing, if something hadn't caught his eye.

An empty jumpsuit, one of black and white, sat on the floor, unused. Earlier, Jack had used to polish something, and proceeded to throw it onto the floor. Now, here it was, almost mocking him.

And, the room was too. In fact, he was the only one awake now, and he was alone, across from the Ghost Portal.

As soon as the idea popped into his head, there was no going back. In a flash, Daniel snatched up the jumpsuit and slid it on, noticing the contrast it gave against his white hair and green eyes. An eerie green glow surrounded his body, something that just came with being a ghost. Peeling off a Fenton logo that was slapped onto the front, Daniel began to slowly walk towards the Portal.

Why was he doing this? Why did he want to see this thing so badly? Why was he risking getting caught by his human roommates, just to check out their creation?

Stepping into the large hole in the wall, Daniel grasps onto the hard metal surrounding the edges. Dragging his fingers slightly across the plates lining the inside, he takes slow steps, admiring the work as he looked about.

"Amazing," he mutters, looking around at the finished project. For some reason, he felt a giant swell in his heart, as if he finally achieved his goal. Why, the teen had no idea. What did this Ghost Portal have to do with anything?

Then, his fingers hit an indent, and then a small click.

Daniel barely had any time to look over at what he had pressed before the green light swirled into existence, surrounding the ghost entirely. The pain quickly followed; something the ghost boy hadn't felt in over one hundred years of being in his ghostly form. He felt as if he were being pulled apart and slammed back together, every single part of his body, over and over again.

The last thing he had registered before darkness consumed him for the first time in a century was a pale, peach-colored hand, which Daniel quickly realized, was his own.


	2. Aftermath

**Shout out to all of my reviewers, favoriters, and followers! I'd go through and write your names and everything, but Its almost midnight and I have to get up for school in six hours. Weeee.**

 **Disclaimer: Butch Hartman's. Nickelodeon's. Not mine. If so, Dan would've come back!**

 **** **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The first thing Daniel felt was the pain.

It was toned down; more of an aching feeling of sorts. His arms, legs, everything pretty much ached or was sore in some way.

Then, the sunlight started to shine, right into his eyes.

Blinking a few times to try and clear up his sight, Daniel looks up, expecting to see the roof of the attic standing above him. However, he finds that instead of slabs of wood, a finished ceiling hung high above his head.

And then, the memories came rushing back.

His curiosity, him slipping on the jumpsuit. Walking inside the Ghost Portal...the accidental slip of his hand, and...

And that's all that the teen remembered from the incident with the portal. That, and the green energy. And the pain. Which was odd, considering that ghosts didn't feel pain.

Sitting up, wincing as he tried to situate himself, Daniel realizes that he was in a room of sorts; a room he hadn't seen before. He sat on a large bed, surrounded and supported by pillows. Bandages were wrapped around his arms, neck, head, and almost his entire (barren) chest. Whoever had wrapped them was no where to be seen.

Looking across the room, the boy saw a desk, shelves and boxes sitting on one side of the room. On the other side, to his left, was the door out of the room, and a dresser with a mirror on it. Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel saw something odd in the mirror, something sitting in the bed with him.

Turning back towards the mirror, a closer look reveals that it was a person. The person appeared to be around Daniel's age, with shaggy black hair hanging in his blue eyes, and only gray sweatpants on, beside the red-and-white 'candy cane' bandages wrapped around their body.

Daniel wasn't too worried at first; ghosts didn't have reflections, so he wasn't surprised to not see himself in the mirror. But, then he sees that the other person's bandages were exactly the same as his own. And, he was also the only person, er, ghost, in the room.

Pushing the blankets aside in a flash, Daniel almost ran over towards the dresser, ignoring his aching muscles. Slamming his hands down on the dark wood, he stares straight at the person in the reflection. Then, the realization hits him like a sucker punch to the gut.

The person in the reflection was him.

"No..." he mutters, grasping at his face. "No..it can't be!"

His skin was lightly-colored; no longer pale white with an eerie green tint. Just like it had been in the portal before he blacked out. It were as if his entire appearance was inverted.

But, how did this happen? Was it the portal that caused it?

Stepping away from the dresser, Daniel tried to calm himself down. Questions kept popping up in his head, one after the other; how had he ended up in this room? Who's room was it? Was he still at the Fentons'/his household?

"Might as well get out of here," the teen says to no one, walking towards the wall across the room. But, instead of walking through the wall like normal, he smacked right into it at full speed, sending him backwards and onto the floor with a large thump.

"Ow! What the heck?!" Daniel shouts, his hands snapping straight up to his face, grasping his forehead and nose as they stung with pain. Why couldn't he turn intangible? It was a basic power all ghosts had; so, why not him anymore? Did the portal phase out his powers?

Suddenly, something large barges through the bedroom door, slamming it open.

"Boy, what are you doing on the floor?" a familiar voice booms from above Daniel, who moves his hands slightly to see who had entered the room. And, when he sees who it is, he almost has a heart attack.

Jack Fenton stood in the doorway, peering down at the teen with a very confused expression. He was carrying something; a tray of sorts, with something steaming up from the tray.

More questions start to form in Daniel's mind; how could Jack see him? No one had seen him before. Was it Jack who brought him to this room, and who had bandaged him up?

"Oh, um..." Daniel starts, start to talk before he had any idea what to say. "I, uh, fell out of bed...?"

Laughing, Jack sets the tray down on the dresser and walks over to Daniel. He picks him up, pretty easily as well, and sets him back down on the bed. He then turns to grab the tray he had in hand originally, which Daniel could now see carried a bowl of soup.

"I figured that since you've been out for almost a day, you had to be hungry," Jack explains, placing the tray of soup on the nightstand beside the bed.

"Wait, it's been a whole day?" Daniel exclaimed, his eyes widening when he hears how long he had been asleep. He runs a hand through his hair, sighing as he leaned back against the pillows stacked behind him. Then, before the shock of that could sink in, the teen decided to ask some questions.

"Um, sir?" the teen starts, trying to figure out where to start. "Where exactly am I?"

Daniel was trying to avoid calling the Fenton in the room Jack; he didn't want the human to figure out a kid he'd never met before knew his name. It'd be weird. Although, at this point, Daniel was starting to doubt his ghost identity.

"Why, you are at Fenton Works, home of Amity Park's best ghost hunters, Jack and Maddie Fenton!" the man in the orange jumpsuit replies, almost cheering. "But, I figured you knew that since you wound up in our basement."

Even though he didn't show it, Daniel definitely felt uneasy talking to Jack. Hopefully he didn't figure that he'd had gone and messed with the portal.

"Kid, I dunno how you got into our basement or how you got your injuries, but you're safe here now. Just rest here for a bit, and then we'll go call your parents." Jack continues, turning and heading towards the bedroom door.

Daniel cringes. His parents? His parents were long dead by now; what could he say to convince Jack to just let him go, to go fly up into his 'room' in the attic and let him be?

"M-My parents are missing-" the dark-haired teen blurts out randomly, quickly regretting his words. "They went missing years ago. I was in an orphanage for most of my life; it got burned down though. I have been wandering for a while, so I hoped to find some food. But, it appears that my injuries got the best of me..."

With every word he spoke, Daniel kept digging the hole to his grave. Who would believe this load of baloney? The first part already sounded fake; the second part was the worst job of thinking off the top of the head. Only a fool would believe this 'story'.

Thank goodness Jack Fenton was that fool.

"Are you serious? Oh my gosh boy, I'm so sorry!" the middle-aged man exclaims, a truly-genuine shocked expression stretched across his face. He pressed a firm hand on Daniel's shoulder, who had started to eat the soup.

Daniel could barely keep his soup down, instead of spitting it out in shock. Jack Fenton, the ghost hunter who almost always had managed to track him down, believed every word he spoke?

"What's your name anyway, kid? You've gotta have a one," Jack asks, looking down at the boy.

Swallowing his food, Daniel debated on whether or not to tell the man his name. Of course, what harm could truly come from that?

Setting his spoon down with a clatter, the young teen quietly sighed and bit his lip. A small shrug of his shoulders, and he lifts his head up. For some reason, he felt a small twinge of trust. Of course, the ironic part was that the previous day, Jack was trying to hunt him.

"My name's Daniel." the black-haired teen says quietly. "Just, Daniel."

A small nod from Jack is all he needed, as the man stands up and heads out the room. After leaving, however, he quickly pops his head back in.

"If you feel up to it, you're welcome to join my wife and I downstairs with our daughter. You don't have too, of course, Danny." Jack adds before leaving for the final time. Slowly, the footsteps fade away, leaving Daniel alone again.

His gaze locked with his soup, he almost didn't even hear Jack's final remark. However, he did catch the last part.

"Danny..." the teen mutters, keeping his head low. For some reason, that nickname created some large waves of nostalgia and sadness. He couldn't remember why; but for some reason, it held some significance. If only he could remember something...anything...from his life before he died.

Died...

Daniel's heart falls into the pit of his stomach. If he hadn't died; he would've lived to an old age and passed in peace; not be stuck, forever bound to a building housing ghost hunters while being a ghost himself. It was too ironic.

No, his world, Earth and the Ghost Zone, was just an ironic story in itself. A world full of things humans feared, and a world full of things ghosts feared.

Picking up the spoon again, Daniel continued to eat a few bites of soup. Within minutes, he had it down to the last drop. Placing the bowl back on the tray and wiping his mouth with his bandaged arm, the teen moved the tray onto the nightstand. Leaning back against the pillows, he stares up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what to do.

Suddenly, Daniel hears a beating noise. Sitting up, he looks around, trying to figure out the source. Pushing the blankets away again, he stands up, going to stand in the middle of the room. But, the more he moves, the beating becomes more prominent, ringing through his ears.

"Wait..."

A state of worry, and fear became set in the pit of the teen's stomach. Only one thing in the human body beat like that, but there was no way...

Hesitatingly, Daniel lifts a single hand, his left one, the one that touched the portal button. It had bandages wrapped around every finger, leading the whole way up to his elbow. It was dotted with a brownish-red; dried blood. Slowly, the teen takes his hand and, oddly, places it over his chest, where his heart would have been.

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._

Daniel's eyes widen. Even through the bandages, through any pain he could've had in his arm and legs at the moment, he had felt it.

 _Thump. Thump._

The teen's knees give out, causing him to collapse onto the wood floors. His knees and shins started to ache again, but he didn't care.

 _Thump. Thump._

Daniel's right hand is clapped to his mouth as he sits in shock, eyes wide and unable to comprehend anything. Tears prick at the edges of his eyes, and he suddenly understands what had happened to him.

"Oh...oh my god..." the teen mutters slowly, feeling a wave of nausea rush through him. He even felt his food start moving a bit.

The portal didn't phase out his ghost abilities. Instead, it did the one thing no ghost had ever done; it brought a ghost back to life. It must've destroyed the ectoplasm, the 'DNA' of all ghosts, and returned it to normal, human DNA.

Now gripping onto the side of his head, Daniel shudders, trying as hard as possible to keep his food down.

"I'm..a-alive.." he says, trying his best to keep himself together. "H-How...w-why?"

Just thinking about it, it was almost like a second chance; a way to redeem himself. He could live out the rest of his life, and finally die in peace. But, then Daniel thought about the consequences...and just like that, the tears fall.

"I-I'm a freak!" He cries quietly, holding his head in his hands as he sobbed in silence.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Jazz, Jack sweetie? Dinner's ready!" called the voice of Maddie Fenton as she shouted towards her daughter in her room on the floor above, and her husband in the floor below. Stirring the last of the tomato sauce, she waited for some sort of response, which would usually come from her husband first.

"DID SOMEBODY SAY DINNER?!"

And, in a flash, Jack Fenton was seated, plate and all, silverware in hand, grin on his face. Looking over her shoulder, his wife smiles, before taking the big bowl of spaghetti and placing it the middle of the kitchen table.

"I'll need to toss the salad before we can eat," the ginger-haired woman adds, placing the small bowl of sauce beside the spaghetti. "And, we have to wait for Jazz."

"Already here, Mom." chirps the sixteen year old teen, popping her around the corner of the kitchen doorframe.

Jazz Fenton was a very bright cookie; she had the brains of both parents, and was even given the 'looks of her mother', according to her father. She had no problems with socializing with her peers; in fact, she had many friends. She was very dedicated to her school work; so much, she had already started looking at colleges.

"Ah! Princess!" Jack exclaims loudly, a large grin plastered across his face as he turns to see his daughter walking in. As she walks past, the father latches his arms around Jazz's waist, trapping her in a large (but tight) bear hug.

"D-Dad!"

"Jack, let Jazz go," Maddie says without even looking, prompting the middle-aged man to let go.

As the young ginger-haired girl takes her seat from across her father, Maddie walks over with the final piece of the meal; a home-made potato salad. The small family then proceeded to pass the food about, filling their plates and chowing down. They talked between bites, about Jazz's schoolwork, about Jack and Maddie's experiments.

But, then, Jack noticed the time. It had been hours since he had brought that boy -Danny- that leftover soup. The sun had set as well; that poor boy had to be hungry.

And then, almost as if on cue, a staircase floorboard creaked. Turning around to look over at the staircase, Jack found himself watching the dark-haired boy -Danny, his mind corrected again- coming down the stairs at a snail's pace.

Reaching the last step, a large creak rang out, causing Daniel to cringe. Looking over at the trio in the kitchen, the teen realizes that Jack had been watching.

"Ah, Danny! You decided to join us!" the man cried, his face lighting up in excitement. Hearing him, both Maddie and Jazz look over at what Jack was looking at.

Daniel freezes in place, trying to think of what to say next. He had tried to venture downstairs for a small snack; he was hoping that the family wouldn't hear him. Instead, they were all gathered in one place, where they could hear him from a mile away.

"Ah, yup!" Daniel says, "I was getting kinda hungry, and when I heard dinner..." he trails off, having no idea where to go with his sentence.

"Well, thank goodness I made extra!" Maddie exclaims, motioning to the fairly-full dinner table. "Come, you can eat with us!"

As if it were a reflex, Daniel would've automatically said no. He couldn't just barge in on a family (who were trying to kill him) and ask for more food. But, at the same time, it was getting late, he was starving, and they afford it to him,

"A-Alright, then..."

After being shown a seat at the table by Maddie, Daniel found himself sitting between Jack and their daughter Jazz. The teen had always stayed away from her; mostly because of her studying habits and how much time she put into her school work. He didn't want to disturb her.

"So, Danny," Maddie starts, picking up a bite of food with her fork. "How old are you? You seem to be around Jazz's age,"

"Oh, well, I'm, um..." Daniel stutters, trying to calculate his age. He couldn't just say ' _Well, I'm 100 years old._ '. They'd think he was crazy!

Although, Jack, and it appeared Maddie, both believed his story about his 'past'.

"I'm fourteen." the dark-haired teen answers, shoving noddles into his mouth, despite not knowing how to twirl the fork.

Now it was Jazz's turn to enter the conversation. "Oh, you're a freshman? Are you going to Casper High?" she questions quickly.

"I-I'm a what?"

Before Jazz could say a word, Jack interjects. "Poor Danny boy here's been in an orphanage all of his life, Jazz. He wouldn't know what a freshman is!"

For once, Daniel found himself mentally thanking Mr. Fenton.

"Although, I did finish the paperwork."

Suddenly, Maddie lights up. "You did? Did you tell the kids?"

"Tell me what?" Jazz asks, her confusion being a first. She almost always knew everything.

Daniel frowns. Kids? Why did Mrs. Fenton say 'kids': It was plural; as in, more than one. They only had a daughter. _Singular_.

Suddenly, Jack stood up, pulling a pile of papers from nowhere in particular.

"As of this evening, Danny here is now Danny Fenton!"

Maddie claps her hands, a big smile on her face. Jazz's jaw drops, her eyes wide. Daniel was just like her, just with a huge pit in his stomach. Who knew his little 'story' could go so far.

 _In one day, I managed to get brought back to life, and adopted by the family who was trying to kill me?_

Daniel, or Danny Fenton now, mutters one word:

"Shoot."


	3. Introductions

**So, I have time to discuss my awesome reviewers, favorite-ers, and followers! Thank you to all of you (wasn't really expecting much out of this story..)!**

 **Shout out to mah beta Dawnmoon 76! She's a great human being! Check out her stuff!**

 **Disclaimer: DP isn't mine. Butch Hartman's and Nickelodeon's. If so, we'd have another chance to see our beloved Dan again!**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Unlocking the locks on the window, Danny slowly pushed the glass pane up. Thank goodness he had watched Jack, well, now his dad, open the window earlier; there would've been no way the teen would figure out how to work it on his own.

Once open, the raven-haired boy took in a deep breath of fresh, Amity Park air. The night breeze was slight, but, it was there, blowing anything in its path around.

"Wow..." the teen utters, looking around at the city's small skyline. It had grown a lot over the century he had watched over the town, going from small houses to buildings with many floors. Businesses came and went, families moved, and the town expanded into one of the large towns within an hour of Denver (which, Danny learned, was the capital of the state of Colorado).

He looked up at the sky, noting the sparkling dots in the sky: Stars, he had learned. They were everywhere; and not a cloud in sight either. The moon was almost full as well, moonlight seeming to float into the bedroom.

Suddenly, a blue mist danced across the breeze.

It was small; it disappeared almost as quick as Danny saw it, but he definitely knew what he saw. Blinking a few times, the teen stuck his head out of the window entirely, something he was never able to do, looking around for the source of the mist. A small breeze blew by, fluffing his hair.

However, Danny cut his search short, yawning. As he retracted his head from the window, he could feel his eyelids starting to grow heavy.

Then, he saw the blue mist again. The teen's eyes snapped open again, looking around for the source, which he figured was in the room. However, after scanning the still-messy room, Danny finds nothing.

Shrugging it off for the night, the teen shuts off the bedroom light and literally falls face down onto his bed.* Moving only a little to get under the blankets, Danny embraced the thought of sleep. Within minutes, the teen is out cold.

What he didn't see, however, were the small flashes of light that had surrounded the teen briefly. They happened so fast it didn't even wake Danny up.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next two days were very eventful, to say the least.

The first day was set aside by Jazz to personally show her new younger brother around the town that was Amity Park. By car, she drove around, showing Casper High School, where Danny would enroll as a freshman (he still didn't know what that was), and some of the nearby shops and businesses. They also passed Axion, the large 'security firm' based in town, as well as a popular restaurant called the 'Nasty Burger'. Course, Danny didn't understand why people his age would go to a place with the word 'nasty' to eat, so he just nodded his head and tried to understand.

Jazz also brought up the upcoming orientation, where students of all grades (not just 'freshman') would come. She was helping plan and organize the event, mentioning that she would slip Danny's name into the 'computer system' and attendance.

The next day was a Sunday, a day of relaxation and peace. However, it was also the first week of 'football', and Jack Fenton found himself glued to the television almost the entire afternoon, shouting. Course, Jack had also managed to ring his new adoptive son into his activities. While Danny didn't really get the gist of the sport, he started picking up on his 'father's hints and learning the rules of the game.

One thing Danny didn't do, however, was shout at the television screen because 'Big Ben waited too long in the pocket' or 'that play was a foul'. That, he left to his 'father.'

But, just as the days came, they left pretty quickly. Danny was still sore from what the other Fentons all came to call 'the accident', and still found himself wrapping parts of his legs and arms with medical tape and bandages.

He also was still readjusting to not only living without his handy-dandy ghost powers, but trying to catch up with the century's worth of technology and history. His first run in came with the machine the Fentons called a 'computer'. Course, when Jazz saw him struggling to just move the 'mouse', she stepped in to help her new 'younger brother' try and navigate the thing.

Returning back to the present, Danny now found himself sitting in a 'car', a type of vehicle that moved people across some pretty large distances. His new parents were driving him and Jazz to something; the teen had no idea what was in store.

Suddenly, the vehicle took a sharp turn, and turned onto a curved road, stopping somewhere in the middle. Jack, who was in the 'driver's seat', turns back to his now-two kids.

"So, Danny!" Jack says excitedly, looking over at his new son. "Are you excited?"

"Excited for what, exactly?" is all the teen asks, resting his chin on his hand.

"Freshman orientation, of course!" Maddie perks up from the opposite front seat, the 'passenger seat', still wearing her blue jump suit. "We had you enrolled at Casper High earlier this week!"

"And I will be helping out as well!" Jazz interjects from the opposite backseat. "I can show you around, help you with anything you need,"

"No thanks," Danny replies automatically, a sudden wave of uneasiness shaking through his body. Something in his conscious almost shouted 'Don't trust her. " The teen had no idea why; he just had this odd feeling of trust towards these Fentons. Maybe it was because they were a family of ghost hunters who were trying to kill him?

 _'But I'm not even a ghost anymore,'_

Danny let out a small sigh. After being dead for so long, he had gotten used to it; the ghost powers, the world aging and changing without him. His only goal had been to wait until the date he was supposed to die; then, he would've passed on calmly. After all, ghosts were just those unfortunate souls who died before the date set by destiny. Once that date arrived, the ghosts would pass on, either going to Heaven or Hell.

In the other seat, Jazz frowns, crossing her arms. She was just trying to be helpful towards her new little brother after all; she'd been an only child all her life. Now, she had a sibling; and he didn't want her help. "Well, someone's gonna have to show you around school!"

"Hey, you two, don't start fighting now," Maddie coos from the front seat, waving her hand slightly. "Orientation ends in two hours; we'll be picking you up then, okay?"

Angry silence built between the new siblings.

"Alrightee then!"

The side car door flew open, and both teens were sent flying out of the door. Landing on the sidewalk in a bunch, the car doors closed behind the siblings and the vehicle sped out of the traffic circle and onto the road.

Sitting up, Danny frowned, resting back on his arms. Suddenly, his right arm collapses beneath his weight, causing him to fall back onto the ground. Struggling to stand up, the dark-haired teen looked over his right arm, checking to see what had happened.

What he sees almost causes him to screech.

His right arm, from the elbow down, had turned intangible.

In a flash, Danny sticks his right hand into his pant pocket, trying to hide it as best as possible, noting Jazz, who was still sitting on the sidewalk, pouting almost.

How was this happening? He was no longer a ghost; how could he still possess the powers of one, though? Maybe he still possessed a small ability that possibly carried over through the accident?

The questions kept coming but Danny had no time to worry about 'how'; he had to worry about 'now' by trying to revert his hand back to normal. Course, this wasn't easy, with Jazz just staring as Danny had a very scared expression.

"Hey, no need to be scared," the ginger-haired teen says quietly, standing up alongside her brother, placing a single hand on the boy's shoulder carefully. Almost immediately, she's shocked by how little body heat the boy gave off; some people didn't give as much off as others, but, it seemed like Danny was slowly freezing up.

"I-I'm not," Danny mutters, gripping his right arm tightly. "I-its something else.." he glanced down towards his hand, but to Jazz, he stares at the ground.

"C'mon, Danny, you can tell me!" Jazz pleads, trying to get her new brother to open up. She knew that being in a family situation for the first time must've been hard for her brother. He probably didn't want to talk to anyone for a while; not at least until he warmed up to everyone.

Course, what she didn't know was that Danny hadn't been a mistreated orphan all his life, just like all the cliches in the books she read.

"No, no I can't," the dark-haired teen puffs out, letting out a large sigh. He turns towards the building, the high school building, and slowly his eyes widen as he realizes how massive the place was. Three stories of cement, brick, and glass windows, and probably much more stood in front of him.

Last Danny could, barely, remember schoolhouses were NOT this big. Course, this came from a gut feeling of sorts, not a real memory.

"T-this place is huge!"

Danny barely had any time to gap at the building before noticing his 'older sister' walking up the front stairs, up to the first set of metal doors. He quickly follows behind her, trying to keep his nerves calm. He didn't know why he was worried, but there was a feeling something would happen. Good or bad, something would happen.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

So far, Danny was convinced it was a bad 'Something'.

Sitting the large room with a stage (Jazz called it the 'auditorium'), the teen looked out at the lit platform. His 'sister' had gone and joined her friends after showing Danny around the school, leaving him with the other freshman in the auditorium. There hadn't been many when he arrived; but, since Danny sat down, many had filled in and sat down with their friends, chatting the time away.

Resting his head on his left palm, the teen looks back over at his right hand. It had returned to normal, but not after thirty minutes of calming his nerves. Twice, Danny thought Jazz noticed; luckily for him, she didn't see squat.

Now, Danny was forced to sit in this 'auditorium' for the principal to talk to the freshman class, which, from the looks of the never-ending stream of kids, wasn't any time soon.

"Excuse me?"

Looking up, Danny looks back over his shoulder. Behind him, in the aisle, stood a single dark-skinned boy, with no one following him. The boy had on thick-rimmed glasses, an odd red hat, a yellow sweatshirt with dark green cargo pants, and dark hiking boots. A bag hung at his waist, held up by a strap around his shoulders.

"Um, yeah?" the teen replies, almost with a grumpy tone in his voice.

"Can I sit here?" the boy questions, motioning towards the empty seats that were beside Danny. While Danny would've preferred to have sat alone and to get through this orientation and get back to Fenton Works, something about this boy felt familiar; felt friendly.

With a mental shrug, the dark-haired teen lifted his legs up and let the boy pass by. The boy takes the seat beside Danny, and then places a large backpack that had been slung over his shoulder on the other open seat. "I'm saving a seat for a friend," the boy says quietly to Danny, keeping his voice low.

Deciding not to question this boy's reasons, Danny simply nodded his head. The boy proceeded to then pull out a large rectangular device from the separate bag, presses a button on the side, and the screen suddenly lit up.

As soon as the device turned on, Danny was immediately drawn to the thing. He didn't know what it was; it appeared everyone had different versions of the glowing devices. Sitting like he normally did, the raven-haired teen watched from a distance as the boy used the glowing rectangle.

After a few quick sighs, some finger-swipes and taps, the boy turns the device off, muttering something about 'her not texting back'. He goes to put the thing away, but then sees the ebony-haired teen staring at it. When the other teen realized he was staring, he quickly stopped, and turned his head the other way, embarrassed.

Then, the boy realized something. "Oh, man, I didn't even tell you my name!" he exclaims, catching the dark-haired teen's attention. Looking back, the first thing the boy notices is bright blue eyes. They were pretty darn bright; not neon or glow in the dark bright, but, brighter than the average blue-eyed person.

"The name's Tucker!" the dark-skinned boy says proudly. "Tucker Foley! Or TF, for Too Fine!"

The boy, 'Tucker', holds out his hand towards Danny. Looking down at it, the teen became a little nervous. He didn't want his hand phasing out; that was his worse fear at this point. Swallowing his worries, Danny returns the gesture, shaking the boy's hand firmly.

"D-Danny," the dark-haired teen replies exasperatedly. "Danny...Fenton. I'm, kinda new here,"

Yeah, the last name 'Fenton' didn't exactly roll of the tongue too easily.

"Wait, your a newbie?" someone asks from the row in front of Danny, obviously over-hearing his comment. "AND your a Fenton?"

Looking ahead at the person making the remarks, the dark-haired teen sees a blond-haired boy with a pretty muscular build. Like, this guy was definitely a force to reckoned with. He wore some sort of red and white jacket, something Danny noticed most of the guys in the row ahead of him wore.

"Yeah, what about it?" Danny asks the blond kid, worrying that he had suddenly start digging his grave.

"I'm just shocked, that's all," the blonde-haired kid remarks, some small sarcasm hinted in his voice. "We don't get newbies here in Amity Park. Where you from then, Fenturd?"

Danny cringed slightly. He hadn't even thought of that; some sort of cover story. He told his 'parents' about his "parents" going missing or what not, but that wouldn't pass here. He'd have to say something that made sense.

"I'm from Florida," the teen said bluntly, eyes narrowing. Something about this guy made his insides turn in anger. "Why you wanna know?"

"Well, since the Fentons have been here for a while, I was curious. They never had a son," the blond-haired kid starts, catching on slightly. "Ha! You're adopted, aren't you Fenturd?"

"What's it to you?"

Danny really did not want to face these questions alone; he had no idea what to say. If Jazz had been there, maybe he wouldn't be so worried. She seemed like a girl who could hold herself in a fight.

"Shut it, Dash."

Turning his head slightly, the blond-haired kid stares behind Danny. "Oh, look who it is, the Goth girl!"

Beside Danny's seat stood a girl now, with black chin-length hair pulled in a small ponytail and purple eyes. She wore a black tank top with a green lightning stripe across, a black plaid skirt, and purple leggings, all mixed with black combat. While Danny wasn't told who she was, he could tell from Tucker's movement of his bag that this was the 'friend' he was waiting for.

Standing up, the teen lets the girl go past, sitting on the other side of Tucker not occupied by Danny.

Suddenly, the blonde-haired kid is standing up completely, towering over Danny like a skyscraper. He then turned towards the rest of the freshman class, waving his hands and gathering their attention.

"Hey, we gotta a live one!" he announces, cupping his hand around his mouth. "We got a newbie!" He points down at Danny, almost showcasing him the rest of the rising 9th grade. Danny absolutely loathed the mocking tone in the guy's voice.

The blond's shouting gathered the attention of the entire collection of students, all turning to look over at the 'newbie'. With hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at him, Danny couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and embarrassed again. Some people were curious, some indifferent, and some eyed him like he was prey. This was not how he wanted to restart his life again.

"Dash, stop it!" the dark-clothed girl exclaimed, shooting up from her seat. Fists hung by her side, clenched tightly, as if she were hesitating to hit the blond-haired boy. Luckily for Danny, as the girl stood up, the crowds had turned away and started talking to one another again, drawing the attention away from him.

"Aw, c'mon Manson!" the blond-haired kid, 'Dash', retorts, laughing. "I'm not doing anything, right Fent-ant?"

Again, Danny cringes. Why did this guy wanna bother him so much? What had Danny done that caused this kid to suddenly make fun of him?

He sat behind him.

"Oh, you're doing a lot," the dark-haired teen mutters under his breath. "Lay off bothering me, will ya? I'm not taking any guff from you."

Hearing this, Dash is taken aback. "What?"

"I don't wanna get involved with scraps anymore," Danny continued louder, forgetting what era he was now living in. "I did that already, and it didn't get me anywhere. I suggest you do the same, schmuck."

With that final remark, the 'goth girl' falls back into her seat, her jaw open in shock. Tucker's eyes are wide, glasses almost fallen off of his face as he alternates between Danny's frustrated look and Dash's very shocked-but-confused stare.

This new kid had stuck up to Dash. Course, plenty of students stood up to the most notorious bully in the grade. But, when it was the new kid, a kid who Dash had never met, it was not only shocking, but risky. There was no way Danny would have a social life now; Dash would make sure of it. And, it didn't help that the new kid also spoke like he was from a whole other era of time.

Raising an eyebrow, Dash looks down at the new kid. He had never heard the words this boy was saying; and he sounded stupid just saying them.

Turning to some of his friends still sitting in the row, the blond-haired jock bent down.

"Let's get outta here, newbie Fenturd here's gone crazy!" He said in mock seriousness before chuckling.

Quickly, almost the entire half of the row stands up and leaves their seats, going to the other side of the auditorium. Once gone, Danny slumps down in his seat, crossing his arms and turning away, looking at the wall, trying to ignore the stares some other students in other rows were giving him. They were laughing and pointing; was a new student some sort of new concept here?

A tap on the shoulder broke Danny's sulking. Looking back over his shoulder, Tucker still had a small shocked expression.

"Dude, you just took Dash Baxter, the most dangerous jock on any sport team in school, head on!" the african-american teen exclaims, shock still fresh. "He'll ruin you for the rest of high school social career!"

But, before Danny could say anything, the girl on the other side perks up again. "Tucker, did he have a choice?" she adds, leaning forward so she could see the dark-haired boy her friend was talking to. She too looked impressed but concealing it well.

"He could've stayed quiet, or-"

"Or what? Be made fun of for being 'chicken'?" She switched her gaze to Tucker.

Watching the two argue was a funny scenario, Danny had to admit. Course, it wasn't too comforting since the topic was him.

"Um..."

The two eventually reach the point where they are almost screaming at each other, the topic changed from Danny to bullying in general. And, as they got louder, more people's heads were turning.

Quickly, Danny reached over and separates the two, prompting both of them to stop and look to see who had interrupted them.

"Man, I haven't even gotten your name," Danny interjects, looking over at the girl. "and two people are already fighting about me." He stifles a small laugh.

The girl smiles. "I'm Sam Manson, Casper High's own 'goth girl'." she introduces, making motions with her hands around the words 'goth girl'. "And, from what it looks like, you know techno-geek Tucker here,"

At the sound of his name, Tucker makes a big goofy grin.

"Yeah. I-I'm Danny Fenton," Danny replies, partially embarrassed as he noticed some people a few rows back still giving him some odd looks, "Although, you already knew that."

"I didn't even know the Fentons had a son: I know that they had a daughter, but a son? Nobody had any idea!" the goth girl, Sam, says, trying to start up a conversation between the trio. To Sam, this Danny kid seemed nice and not the type to hold himself up in a verbal argument, especially against a kid like Dash. But, despite that and the boy's weird vocabulary, he wasn't jerky and worried about his social standings. If he were, that small skirmish with Dash wouldn't have happened.

"They don't," Tucker says quietly, keeping his voice low. "Danny said he was...adopted" the word 'adopted' almost inaudible.

Sam's eyebrows rise. "O-oh," she says, trailing off. "Sorry..."

Danny shrugs his shoulders. It was an odd topic, claiming that you were adopted when you kinda were and kinda weren't. But, in order to keep his story straight, not only to his 'family', but to everybody, he had to call himself adopted.

"It's alright. Its been, um, three days since I moved in," Danny starts, trying to play the 'adoptive child'. Course, knowing himself, Danny had to keep his thoughts in check constantly. That, or he'd end up with two different stories along with the first one he told. "I'm still trying to get used to everything; the town, the family, everything. Ja- I mean, my mom and dad enrolled me the day they filed the papers."

Now, it was Tucker's turn too be shocked. "You've only been here for three days? But, school starts next week!"

Danny freezes. He had not been aware of that. He was supposed to start 'high school' in a week?! There was no way he was going to be able to read up on all of the history he missed in a week! He had planned on spending a good two-three weeks dedicated to try and learn the past hundred years. How was he supposed to do that in one?

But, before any of them could say a single word, the lights in the auditorium dim down. Sam shoos Danny back over to his seat, and the trio turned their attention towards the stage, like the other students. The stage was lit up, spotlights glaring down.

Suddenly, a bald man in a light blue shirt and black tie walked out, the light reflecting off of his head. A large black goatee dotted his chin, and he carried a few papers in his hand. Stopping at a podium set up in the center of the stage, the bald man placed his papers, and cleared his throat.

"Good afternoon, Casper High Class of 2019!" the man shouts cheerfully, a small black cord amplifying his voice. The audience, however, stays silent.

"Today marks one of the first steps you will take into becoming a high school student here at Casper High. Of course, I won't be doing all the talking; Principal Ishiyama will be discussing your futures with you all very shortly. For now, however, you'll be with me, Mr. Lancer,"

Leaning on his left hand, Danny lets out a yawn. Suddenly, his arm turns fuzzy, and his head slams against the armrest. Tucker and Sam both notice, looking over at the dark-haired teen, who looks back, keeping his left hand down, smiling back.

Once the two look back at the bald teacher, Danny looks down at his left arm. This time, it was the left arm that had turned intangible, yet it was the entire arm this time. Keeping his arm hidden in his seat, the dark-haired teen tries to keep attention away from his arm, as Tucker and Same kept looking back over.

Why had his other arm turned intangible? Did it have to do with his right arm earlier in the day? Just what exactly was going on?

 **XxXxXxXxXXxX**

After the lecture about 'being bright students' and 'doing work' to 'keep grades up', Danny had all but enough of hearing about how he was supposed to do, what 'exams' he had to take, and was overall exhausted. Schedules had been handed out earlier (Danny had gone with Jazz to look at teachers).

So, when the orientation ended, the first thing he did was dart straight from his seat, out of the auditorium, and into the afternoon sun. Cars were lined up in the parking lot and the bus circle, waiting to pick up students who had finished. Some students, however, started walking in the same direction, mentioned 'grabbing dinner'.

After Sam and Tucker caught up, they explained that most students were headed towards the Nasty Burger, that weird restaurant Jazz had shown him earlier in the week. Turns out, it was right down the street from the school, and was a very VERY popular place for teens to 'hang out'.

The two were actually on their way over as well, and extended the invite to Danny. Danny, with no knowledge of a sit-down restaurant and 'hanging out', decided to go ahead with them. Through their small discussions during the lecture, Danny found them to be pretty nice, better than what that Dash had been.

So, after telling Jazz, who told his 'parents', Danny followed Sam and Tucker to Nasty Burger, hoping to get to know the two more. As he walked along the 'sidewalk', a wave of uneasiness washed over Danny. Just like earlier in the day, with Jazz, something just told him 'Don't trust them'. This time, however, Danny ignored it. Why, he didn't know. He just had a gut feeling that they could be trusted.

What Danny didn't realize, however, was that his life was about to change yet again. One small mistake that would thrust him into a life he never wanted. And it all started with a push of a button...


	4. Awakening

**So, I got a question about Vlad and his whole involvement with the story. My answer is that Vlad will DEFINITELY be in this story. In fact, from what I have planned, the story will end around the time Vlad is introduced.**

 **And, as a question to all of you: should I involve everyone's favorite, Wes Weston, in this story?**

 **Disclaimer: Danny Phantom's not mine. Butch Hartman's and Nickelodeon's. If so, it would be marathoned this month!**

 **XXXXXXxXxXxXxXxX**

Arriving at the Nasty Burger, Danny was taken aback. This building was not tall, or very wide, and from the people he could see through the glass windows, it seemed that it could hold many people.

Nervously, he followed his two fellow 'freshies' into the restaurant, pushing the door open as it started to close on him. Not even a foot into the door, Danny could hear the commotion going on inside; plenty of shouting, plenty of discussion, and two people walking around, carrying food.

After being dragged through the crowds by Tucker, Danny found himself sitting at a large table with chairs surrounding the table like a shield. Taking a seat, Sam opened a large book sitting on the table. Noting her actions, Danny sat and did the same, picking up the book, which oddly enough, had pictures of food. And, looking through the odd book, he found that different food was listed, and with a price of sorts beside it.

Now sitting between Tucker and Sam, Danny looked around the building. In the middle was a long table with sorts of tubs of things; things the teen couldn't see from his distance. Around the right side of the building, very large rectangles showed some sort of moving picture. Tables sat assorted across the floor, the left side of the building with the quieter, conversation sorts. The shouting had developed over on the right side of the building.

"So, Danny, what are you ordering?" Sam asks, closing her food book and placing it back on the table. "I'm getting a veggie footlong."

"Ah, well..." Danny replies, tapping his chin while continuing his search through the food book. He no idea what to 'order'; all these selections didn't look like food, and from the tiny white print, he could barely recognize some of the ingredients. "I have no idea..."

"Oh! Try the Ultra Slammin' Sider!" Tucker suddenly perks up, leaning over Danny's shoulder to observe his menu. Pointing at one listed item, the dark-haired teen frowns. "What is it?"

Hearing those words, Tucker is sent on a crazed frenzy. "Its probably one of the best burgers in this joint!" he cries, hands in the air. "Only the Original Nasty Burger and the Bacon-Bacon-Heaven beat it!" Tucker smiled at just the thought of the burgers he listed, entering food bliss.

Across the table Sam scoffed, turning her head. "How can you two just go and eat meat without thinking twice?" she asked, her disgust look aimed almost directly at Tucker.

"Excuse me, but meat is amazing!" snapped the opposing side, eyes narrowing. Sam shot another dirty glance at Tucker, the two locking eyes in anger.

"Um..guys?" Danny perked up, trying not to get caught in the middle. "Its just food, right?"

Remembering Danny's presence, the two friends let out a sigh and nod their heads, putting their occasional difference aside. What Danny didn't know was that the 'Veggie over Meat' fight often broke out between the two. Course, usually it just ended up with the two being silent until their food arrived.

As the two calmed down, a girl in a red and white uniform walks up to their table, pulling out a small notebook and pencil. "Have you decided what you would like to order?" the waitress chirped, her strawberry blonde-hair bobbing in its ponytail as she spoke.

"I'll take two Bacon-Bacon Heavens, please," Tucker orders promptly, "with extra bacon." The girl scribbles that down, turning to look at Danny.

"Ah, uh, I will...um..." he stutters, quickly skimming the list of food options for the item Tucker had pointed too. "I'll try the..um, Ultra Slammin' Sider...?"

"I'll just have a Turkish Wrap foot-long," Sam adds monotonously, not even bothering to use her food book.

"And to drink?"

"I'll take some half-and-half, I guess," Sam lists, not even giving it a second thought.

"I'll grab a Coke, please," Tucker adds. "What are you getting, Danny?"

Danny gulps. There were more things to drink than water, milk, and the occasional fruit juice? He would've just said 'some water from the well,' but obviously, the present-day Amity Park had no such things. Instead, it was odd large boxes that were capable of holding food and drinks.

"I'll just take some water..." the dark-haired teen finishes, the small nerves that had started to build again in his gut dissipating.

The waitress nods her head again, finishing her scribbling and leaving the three teens alone again, heading towards the kitchen with the order.

With their food on the way, Sam and Tucker both turn their attention towards Danny, hoping to figure more about the newest person in the entire town.

But, whatever questions they asked, Danny answered in the blandest way possible. It were as if he were trying to avoid them entirely. It grew quite frustrating; like a stubborn egg that wouldn't crack.

However, Sam and Tucker did manage to get some answers, as few in numbers as they were. According to Danny, he lived with different foster families until he was adopted by the Fentons. He didn't really go out much, claiming he was home-schooled. But, these were all answered by a simple 'Yes', 'No', or a nod of the head.

But, he did say was how he liked history and science, oddly. He was interested in 20th Century facts the most, and was very curious about 'the land beyond the sky' as he called it (even though he was just referring to space). This was the most info Sam or Tucker could get from the boy during their meal, alongside his simple 'yes' and 'no's. They couldn't really blame Danny; he'd just moved to town, and now two random teens were asking him questions about his previous times as an orphan.

What Sam and Tucker didn't know was that Danny wasn't an orphan of any sort.

Once the food came, Tucker turned all of his attention towards Danny's first reaction upon trying the Ultra Slammin' Sider. To say the least, Danny was awed by the greasy-but-tasty wonder that was a hamburger, much to Sam's disgust.

The trio talked through their meal as well, Sam talking about how 'dreadful' her parents were and how high school would be 'pretty similar'. Tucker had pulled out that glowing device again, to which he saw Danny staring at again. He then proceeded to show the oblivious teen how to work the device, an iPhone 6, despite even two-year-olds knowing how to use them. Tucker never bothered to ask why Danny didn't know what an iPhone, or any real form of technology was; he just, forgot.

Eventually, the end of the meal arrived. Finished with their food, and finding out they had to pay, Sam paid for the meal, and they headed back the direction they had come almost two and a half hours earlier.

With the sun now set, the stars out, and the restaurant even more crowded, the trio walked, Tucker and Sam telling stories of their elementary school years, whatever that was.

Then, the point came where the three went their separate ways, each going to their own homes. With plans to meet up the following day at the park, they left, waving, and pretty satisfied with the day. Danny, out of the three, was definitely the happiest; he had met two nice people within his first real day in public. And tomorrow, he was planning to meet up again, to 'hang out', as the other two had put it.

Pride and success boosted Danny's confidence. He had many close calls and awkward moments, yes, but it was still a successful and kinda fun time.

Danny should've known, however, that when he was successful, karma decided to upper-cut him.

Chills suddenly snake up the teen's spine, followed by the glow of blue mist. Again.

Immediately, Danny checked around his surroundings, hoping to find the source of this odd mist. He wasn't successful any other time, and yet again, he turned up with nothing.

Every time he saw the blue mist, it would last shortly, then disappear. The only thing the blue mist sightings had in common were that Danny was the only one who saw them.

"Wait..." he mutters, looking down at his breath, which was oddly visible. And, oddly blue. "It's me?!"

Again, the blue mist forms, this time emerging as a cold, harsh breath. It scared Danny; he knew this wasn't normal. No other person he had seen in town breathed blue-colored air.

But then again, Danny wasn't really normal to begin with. Even when he was a ghost, the teen had been locked away in the future Fenton Works for years. Ghosts were supposed to roam the Ghost Zone, escaping to Earth only for the occasional scare.

Danny quickly took off in a fast-paced walk, hoping to return to his new home as fast as possible. While the creepy blue-breath was weird (possibly a side-effect from being brought back to life) and would be difficult to explain, the silence that had settled in town was starting to creep Danny out.

Suddenly, a large screech erupts, breaking through the night like a siren. Cringing, the raven-haired teen looks up, where the sound seemed to be originating from. What he sees is not the night sky; instead, two large green** creatures were swimming (?) through the darkness, large red eyes staring back down at Danny.

"Wha...What the-"

The flying creatures spot Danny, eyes narrowing, and dive down towards the teen. Seeing this, the teen lets out a yelp and turns on his heels, beginning to run. His first and only idea was to get as far away as he could from these green things, or to get to back to Fenton Works.

Looking over his shoulder, the dark-haired teen saw that he was starting to create some distance between himself and creatures, who were hissing and screeching. Fear starts to set in, causing Danny to run even faster that he first had, looking forward again. Taking a sharp left into some dark alleyway, he found that it just led into a maze of alleys, large bins of something and puddles from some recent rain laying assorted across the ground.

Suddenly, the green creatures appear behind Danny, launching slimey green tentacles towards the teen. Almost like a reflex, the teen manages to dodge all of the stabbing limbs, only managing to get small splotches of a mysterious green goo on his white shirt.

"I know I got in a scrap or two in grade school, but I was never on this level!"

Another tentacle, this time from behind, flies by Danny's head, which he avoids with a simple tilt of his neck. A wave of rage surges through his body, his eyes glowing green. Noting a small cut on his cheek, the teen reaches around and grabs the single tentacle, gripping it tightly.

Another surge of power rushes through the boy's body, as he launches the creature back and sends it flying farther back into the alleyway. The green thing lands with a crash in a large pile of black bags, but oddly enough phases through and disappears.

Noticing this, Danny's eyes widen, returning to their blue color. "A-a ghost? These things are ghosts?" he exclaims, seeing that the creature was out of sight.

With his back turned, the second octopus ghost grabs Danny, restraining his arms and legs, and slamming him into the ground. Small cuts formed across the teen's arms, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his abdomen.

One thing that sucked about being alive; pain was a given. Even just the smallest paper cut could cause a lot of pain (for a paper cut at least). As a ghost, being dead, you couldn't feel pain, unless hit by a ghost-hunting weapon.

As the remaining ghost starts picking Danny back up by his right leg, he braces for impact. His chest almost burned in pain, and he didn't have the (little) strength to fight back. It was pathetic, but Danny was a thin kid; he wasn't built to be in fights. No normal person like him could survive against a ghost attack.

But, was he really normal?

The ghost swings Danny back towards the road, his forehead almost slamming onto the pavement.

" _These things- ghosts - why are they attacking me? Why are they after me_?"

The teen is swung back towards the alley, using what power he had left to keep his head still and from cracking open.

" _Ghosts rarely target humans! Why are these things-"_

Another hit against the ground reignites Danny's anger, rapidly building in the pit of his stomach until it reached every point of his body.

"G-Get off me!"

His eyes glowing neon green again, the teen kicks the ghost with his free leg multiple times in an attempt get the ghost to at least loosen his grip. Instead, the ghost launches Danny back into the alleyway, sending him flying into a large pile of stacked garbage bags.

Sitting in literal crap, the dark-haired teen lets his head fall back, eyes dying down again, fire slowly dimming. This time, he had taken notice in the sudden surge of power. He had no idea where or what this odd source of power was; all Danny could tell was that he had just saved him; twice.

Now, there was nothing he could do. He could barely hold his head up, much less stand up and fight. To make matters worse, the second octopus ghost appears again, reappearing behind its friend, who slowly flew over to their prey.

Yet, as Danny sat in the trash, looking at these ghosts, he could hear his heartbeat ringing in his ears. HIS heartbeat; the symbol, the sound, that he was alive. And, as it beat, the teen realized how much he was willing give to continue hearing that heart pound.

But, there was nothing he could do now.

"I want to live...I want to live...!"

With almost a snap, the fire burns back to life, this time completely bursting. Two rings appear for split seconds, and when they disappear, any pain the teen had felt started to dim, and was replaced with a sudden wave of adrenaline lined with determination.

Without a second thought, Danny jumps to his feet, staring dead ahead at the two ghosts with a fierce smile, as if a switch were thrown in his brain. His body was suddenly screaming; Run, Punch, Kick, but, even with the sudden boost in energy and injury patch, he was still aching.

Eyes narrowing, the teen launched forward, his blood pumping. Throwing a punch (or was it two?) followed by a kick against the ghosts, each impact left his muscles even more sore than they had been only seconds ago. But, it was thrilling; the aches made him want to move more, to keep going.

Was this what it mean to be alive?

"Hyaaah!"

Landing another blow against the ghosts, the teen sends them flying into the middle of the street. He lands cat-like, a sinister expression taking over. The two ghosts get back up, zooming one after another back towards the teen.

A familiar feeling washes over Danny, as the ghosts pass straight through him, crashing into the alley wall behind him, falling into the trash bags.

"Take that!" he proclaims fiercely, despite knowing that he had just turned intangible and let the ghosts do the work. He points towards the ghosts, almost in a mocking sort of way.

Wait...intangible?

Suddenly, Danny's arm lowers slightly, blinking a few times as the past minute or so replayed in his mind. The fire in him calms, the switch turned to the middle point, and he suddenly remembers what had happened.

First, he notices his arm; it wasn't the peach color his skin had become; it was covered in a elbow-length white glove.

"Wait a second..."

Looking up his shoulder and to his chest, Danny finds that his entire wardrobe had changed. A black jumpsuit replaced his t-shirt and jeans, white knee-high boots taking place of the red sneakers he had donned earlier. Along with the white gloves, a tight white belt, the collar around his neck is colored white as well, stretching down towards his shoulders.

"W-W-what is this?!" Danny exclaims, looking down at his hands, confusion racing through his mind. Again, he found himself in another situation that he couldn't wrap his head around. "This isn't-"

Suddenly, the ghosts let out a screech, like they had before, and turn invisible, flying into the air and disappearing into the night.

Not even caring about the gone ghosts, Danny found a large puddle and scrambled over, fearing something had happened. Sliding onto his knees, he glared down at the puddle, hoping to see dark hair and blue eyes.

What he sees shook him up.

His ebony hair was replaced with snow white hair, and his eyes glowed neon green. His skin had turned pale white again, and the familiar green aura had returned, covering his entire body. The cut on his cheek no longer bled red; instead, it was green. Green blood...Ectoplasm?

Had he...died again?

Taking a deep breath, the boy tries to keep himself calm. There was only one way to check and see if he was dead; the heartbeat. If the heartbeat wasn't there, neither was he.

Hesitantly, Danny takes his hand and places it over his heart. Almost immediately, he feels the organ beating in his chest like a drum. A wave of relief floods through his body, his muscles loosening after oddly tensing up.

He was alive.

But, if he was alive, why did he look like he had as a ghost? On top of that, how was he able to fend back those ghosts? He had dodged those attacks earlier, as if it were a natural action. He attacked like he was a martial artist; like he knew how to fight.

Now, Danny's mind was abuzz; so many more questions...would they ever be properly answered?

 **XxXxXxXxX**

Almost immediately afterwards, Danny flew home, after finding that a lot of his ghost powers had mysteriously returned. He still couldn't figure out what happened. He was still alive, but he still possessed powers of that of a ghost, an undead being.

It hurt his head thinking about it, but Danny had to figure this out. According to what Tucker had said, high school was in the next week. There was no way, especially with all of the attention he gained, that he would make it through a single day without being called a freak if he didn't solve this problem. He couldn't turn to the Fentons- his Mom and Dad and Jazz- if they knew, he'd be back in the Ghost Zone.

Turning intangible and flying through the outdoor wall that went into his bedroom, Danny welcomed the sight of his still-messy room. Crashing onto his bed, exhaustion suddenly set in. His body was screaming for sleep.

Suddenly, the last of Danny's internal fire dies, and light flashes across the room. Two rings appear, moving across the teen's body like a scanner. Danny was barely awake, but, when he sees the rings, his eyes snap open.

Sitting up, the teen finds himself in the same clothes he had worn when he ate dinner with Tucker and Sam, although dirt was scattered across and a disgusting stench had formed. His appearance had returned to normal as well.

Did he return to normal because he tired? Or, was it something else?

While Danny had decided to lay down again to think, but within minutes he found himself sound asleep.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

" _Hey, give that back!"_

 _Shouting, laughter. An arm raised with a brown bag hanging. Him jumping, failing every time. The laughter becomes louder with every failed jump._

 _"Give it to me!"_

 _The group stands closer together, outnumbering him. All are dressed in similar white shirts and dark knee-length shorts, some with neckties, a sign of the rich. Most are older boys, at least three years older than him._

 _"Oh, why should I?"_

 _"T-That's my lunch! My mom made it for me!"_

 _Some of the boys snigger and grin among each other._

 _"Really? That's surprising, considering she's so busy with work."_

 _"Doesn't your dad work?"_

 _Frowning, he pouts. "He sold stuff," he replies, crossing his arms. "Why does that matter?"_

 _"Why does your mom do the work then?"_

 _"..."_

 _"Where's your dad?"_

 _"...he's..."_

 _"He ran out on ya, didn't he? Didn't want to be around a stupid, dumb kid like you, huh?"_

 _"H-he didn't! And I'm not dumb!"_

 _"Then why are you still in first grade? What is this, your third time?"_

 _"M-maybe...I dunno..."_

 _"Hah! See, you are dumb! No wonder your dad left!"_


	5. Memory

**Okay, well, you guys have spoken. No Wes. Works for me.**

 **Man, I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I've been procrastinating, and with me attempting NaNoWriMo, I dunno how things will turn out for the next month update wise. All I do know is that I plan to write this story up until the point Danny and Vlad meet for the first time. Next chapter, however, will be the start/hopefully completion of episode one's events.**

 **Shout out again to my beta Dawnmoon76, who's been a big help to me recently! Go check out her stuff, and say the Moyashi sent you!**

 **Disclaimer: Danny Phantom isn't mine. Nickelodeon's and Butch Hartman's. If so, Clockwork would've rewound time so Phantom Planet didn't exist!**

 **XxXxXxXxXxX**

The morning came faster than Danny had anticipated; he woke up to the sounds of thumping and movement somewhere in the house (probably from the lab). Stretching, he got out of bed, catching a glimpse of his appearance in the mirror across the room. Black hair and blue eyes glared across the glass, calming the teen. Upon further inspection, the cut on his left cheek was still visible.

Last night's skirmish almost felt like a dream; for a while there, it were as if he had died again, regaining his ghost identity. But, what didn't make sense was the cut on his cheek; it bled green, ectoplasm. If he were dead, he wouldn't have gotten the cut, much less had it bleed. On top of that, his heart continued to beat; very slowly, yes, but as long as that organ was pumping, Danny was alive.

So...what exactly happened in that alley last night?

 _"I had turned intangible...and a black-and-white jumpsuit..."_

Danny's eyes snap open wider. The jumpsuit he had worn last night; it was similar to that of the one he wore in the accident..

the Accident...

" _Did the portal...do something else?"_

Before Danny could even think of an answer, his stomach decided to perk up.

Immediately, the teen left his room, trying to push the previous evening's events into the back of his head. Food could help clear his mind, as well as try and prepare for a day of 'hanging out' with Tucker and Sam. The two had mentioned the 'end of summer', and decided to 'perform the yearly event', but this time, they were taking Danny under their wing.

While he didn't know what that meant, the raven-haired teen had just rolled with it, and nodded his head.

Walking into the kitchen now, the youngest Fenton spotted Maddie, still sporting her traditional blue suit, at the stove. Even with light footsteps, the woman still heard Danny, and looked over her shoulder, her eyes lighting up once she spots the boy.

"Danny! You're awake!" she says loudly, "We didn't even hear you come back last night! How did you sleep?"

While Danny hadn't really slept in many, many years, last night wasn't particularly nice. The dream he had was vivid, for one thing; it wasn't something he'd forget. And for the wrong reasons.

The teen had been shrunk down and placed in a monotone like world, surrounded by taller boys, all glaring down with menacing grins. The boys had been bullying him and making remarks about his parents. While Danny had no idea what these older boys were talking about, he had seemingly answered their remarks naturally, as if he were this little kid he had turned into. It was awkward, for one; and it was weird for second.

"I, uh, I slept pretty well, I guess," the dark-haired teen bluffed. "What are you making?"

"I'm finishing some bacon here," the ginger-haired woman replied, not looking up from the stovetop. "There's some pancakes and syrup already set on the table, if you want to eat now."

Looking over at the table, Danny raced over and took a seat, quickly filling his plate. He had tried some of his 'mother's' pancakes before; they were pretty great things. Now, he had three piled on his plate; he would take more, but Maddie had mentioned bacon. Bacon, well, that was heaven on its own.

"So, how did last night go?" Maddie asks, turning off the stove as she set the last of the bacon on a plate.

"A-Ahlrhighth, Ih suhposhe," the teen replies through bites of pancakes. Swallowing his food, he continues. "I'm heading to the park today to meet up with Tucker and Sam; we're gonna 'hang out' before school starts."

"Oh, that's great! You've already made friends, and you haven't even been staying here for a week, Danny!"

The teen frowns. Why, oh why, did that nickname Jack said to him stick with everybody? It even stuck with Danny himself, since he told Tucker and Sam to call him that! The author even stuck with it! Couldn't the name Daniel be used?**

'But...something about the name 'Danny'...'

Nostalgia hit the teen hard; there were memories of something trying to form in his mind, but no matter how much they tried to become concrete, they kept fizzling out. They hung on a hook in front of him, but as if he reached out, they were pulled out of reach.

The only memories that form is that of his death, faint images of a small town, a small building, an odd tree on the hill with a stone, and the encounter from the older boys who had tormented him. But, with them came a woman's voice, a soft one, almost whispering.

"Danny?"

Snapping out of his trance, the teen quickly looked around, regaining his bearing, finding that Maddie had joined him at the dining table, with her own breakfast.

Noticing that he had suddenly dazed off, Danny put on a sheepish smile. "S-Sorry..." he said quietly, turning back to his food. He proceeded to scarf down the pancakes, trying now to avoid his 'mother's' confused gaze.

 **XxXxXxX**

Following breakfast, the teen hurried to get ready. He had promised to meet up with his two acquaintances at 9:30, and it was already nine. After he helped clean up the kitchen, almost dropping a plate or two, and almost falling down the stairs, Danny got himself out the front door three minutes after nine.

A small bandage (Jazz had called it a 'band-aid' when she forced Danny to let her put it on) covered the cut from the previous night, which Jack nor Maddie ever said a word about. Danny had been surprised; he expected Jack to jump up, claiming a ghost hurt his son or something along the lines of ghost activity. He'd only ever seen Maddie or Jack concerned about ghosts, after all.

Feet slamming onto the 'sidewalk' as he ran, he tried to remember the directions Jazz had given him, since his 'parents'* had gone to their lab already.

 _"Was it a left at the corner? Or was it a right?"_

Maneuvering through the streets of the city, Danny eventually finds the peaceful part of town. It was odd, finding a place like that surrounded by tall, modern buildings. In fact, it were as if that part was left untouched by the development of Amity Park.

Danny walked around the open land, almost lost in thought. The trees, the morning sunlight just barely passing through; the birds chirping, and the dogs people walked barking as they came. It gave a sense of familiarity; this was what the teen had grown up with. At least, what he thought he did.

The ebony-haired teen searched across the park for a good ten minutes before he finds Tucker on a bench, staring mindlessly at the device in his hand. Noticing Danny, however, he quickly turned it off and put it away, replacing his somber expression with a cheerful smile.

"Danny! Ya made it!" he shouted, waving the new kid over. Nonchalantly, said teen waltzed right on over.

"Is Sam not here yet?" Danny asked, glancing around the immediate area, the only other person being a larger man jogging.

"She texted me not too long ago," Tucker explains, talking as if Danny knew what a 'text' was. "She has to go shopping with her parents; she'll be meeting up with us at the mall later."

Despite the knowledge of a 'text' or this 'mall', the teen just nodded his head. He would just follow Tucker around, hoping to secretly learn what all of these new words were, and the new gadgets and things. Yeah, he could list almost the entire catalogue of Fenton Ghost-Hunting Weapons like the back of his hand, but that was because Danny always spent time hiding from them.

Those were the closest things to 'modern technology' that he knew.

"You like movies, right?" Tucker questions, noting Danny's worried gaze. Hearing the teen's voice, Danny returned to reality.

"Oh, of course!" he replies eagerly. While they were only a minute or so long, Danny had seen his fair share of 'movies' before his untimely demise. The motion camera was one of the newest inventions in the 1890, and movies quickly followed. They were a big hit back then; and, from Tucker's question, Danny could assume that they were still popular in the twenty-first century.

Tucker's eyes light up. "Oh, great! Sam and I usually spend a day at the movies, followed by an afternoon at the mall and the arcade. It follows tradition," Danny nods his head. "Wanna go see that new horror movie, _Crimson Peak_?" the bespeckled teen suggests, before frowning in disapproval. "Or, how about _The Martian_?"

Hearing the titles, the raven-haired teen frowned slightly in disapproval. He'd never heard of any titles like these before, much less this 'martian' thing... "Ah...can we choose when we get there?" he asked, trying to keep the peppy mood that had formed between the two.

"Why not?" Tucker says optimistically, turning and starting to head towards the movie theater, wherever it was. Instinctively, Danny follows, a sudden swell of acceptance rushing over him.

 **XxXxXx**

Letting the glass door close behind them, the two teens were met with a sudden blast of cold air as they enter the theater's main lobby, curtesy of the air conditioning. Screens hung on the walls and from the ceilings, showing upcoming and current movie posters and scrolling schedules. All sorts of people walked by, couples clinging to each others arms, families coming for a last breath of summer. Some carried buckets of an odd yellow substance; food of sorts: others carried cups with straws.

A sudden jerk to the side almost knocked Danny over, and he's dragged to the side by his acquaintance. After selecting their movie (they decided to go watch that 'Crimson Peak'*** one, even thought Tucker didn't seem so enthusiastic), Danny watched Tucker pay, grab the tickets, and head into another line, this time, for the yellow bucket food. Under his breath, the techno geek mutters something about 'not being able to see a rom-com', despite it being 'his turn' to choose.

Once Tucker also pays for a large amount of yellow bucket food and a tall red drink cup, the dark-skinned teen leads the newest kid on the block through the halls of the town movie theater, Danny barely paying any attention to the steps ahead of him. Instead, he was noting the different posters displayed outside each theater, and the glowing screens nearby. He also noticed the disgusting carpet and, even with a good cleaning, couldn't help the ugliness.

"So, what's the movie about?" Danny asked, trying to get a conversation started. He hadn't any idea what the movie choices were about; he just chose off of the pictures he saw.

"According to the trailers, the main character girl can see ghosts," Tucker starts, a large grin crossing his face. Upon hearing 'ghosts', Danny pales. Luckily, the boy doesn't notice. "The girl in the movie is played by the girl in that Alice in Wonderland reboot a couple years back. They even got Jessica Chastain and Tom Hiddleston, the guy who played Loki from Avengers!"

While Danny had no idea who a 'Loki' or an 'Avenger' were, he did recognize the title 'Alice in Wonderland': he'd read the book in school. Hoping to keep the conversation going, the lost boy just nods his head. "Oh, wow!"

"Speaking of Avengers, have you seen Age of Ultron?!" Now, Tucker started talking on and on about the newest movies. With an optimistic smile, Danny just listened and nodded his head. Hopefully, he could pick up on some current news of sorts. But, instead of just listening for certain info, the teen found himself being intrigued and wanting to talk about his own experiences with Tucker. Experiences, however, lost to memory.

Suddenly, a wave of chills flashed through Danny's body, erupting into a small stream of blue mist. Luckily for him, Tucker was too engulfed in the conversation to notice. For Danny, his insides almost went rigid. The same breath occurred with the ghosts octopi the previous night, the ones that caused him to take a form similar to the one he resumed during his time when he was dead. What did it mean? Were these chills a warning? A sense of sorts?

However, before the conflicted ghost(?)teen could think of any possible scenario, the two arrived at their specified theater. Opening the door, Danny is greeted with darkness, and follow Tucker.

Once inside the theater, the two boys took their seats in the center of the room (Tucker said it was the best spot). Plenty of trailers flash across the broad screen, and what Danny saw caused his jaw to almost hit the floor.

Movies definitely changed. The things they were capable of doing, the technology available; it was insane! How much had the world changed?

Awed already by the trailers, the real event began, which Danny became amped up for even more. Not only for the capabilities of movies in the current time, but because of what Tucker had said earlier. Ghosts were a major part of this movie. It seemed that everywhere he went, the word 'ghost' was involved.

Once the movie was over, at least two hours had passed. Almost immediately, the thought of the blue breath came rushing back after being pushed aside. As Danny walked out with Tucker, the two discussed the movie, Danny scanned the area for any sign of any real ghosts, instead of the ones depicted in the movie. Not very realistic, the teen thought, but its not like the creators had any idea what ghosts looked like.

Tucker then explained the rest of the afternoon, pulling out his glowing phoning device (which Danny still couldn't figure out) and showed Danny their exact plans. After the movie, the plan was to spend some time window-shopping (whatever that meant) and finish it up with hours straight of laser tag and at the arcade (whatever those were). But, Danny kept up his cover, and nodded along with Tucker's plans.

 **XxXXxXxXxX**

" _Hey_ , _Mom?" the little boy_ _asked, fidgeting in his seat._

" _Yeah, sweetie?" a young lady replied, looking down at the boy, her son. She stood in the kitchen, washing white dishes in soap_ suds, _her hands moving like a machine._

 _"Why did Dad leave?"_

 _The woman paused, her hands stopping momentarily, before resuming as normal. "He had to go back to the Atlantic, sweetie." she says sadly, her eyes becoming lost in a daze._

 _"But why?"_

 _"S-something came up..."_

 _The boy stared down at the plate on the table, food having been barely touched. He pouts, his lower lip curling. "My friends always ask where he is. They laugh with me, and we call each other names.."_

 _Almost immediately, the woman feels her heart sink. She knew the truth, her son didn't have to lie. Those boys and girls weren't his friends; they were his bullies. They laughed at her son, not with him. And, it caused her gut to twist into knots of guilt._

 _"I'm sorry, sweetie."_

 _It destroyed her heart that she couldn't tell her boy the truth; he deserved it. He was a corker alright; he knew that the kids at school made fun of him, yet he still pushed forward. He was seven, going on eight, and he could handle these situations. It was both awe-inspiring, and gut-wrenching._

 _"Mom, does Dad think I'm dumb?"_

 _"No sweetie, of course not. You're much smarter than you realize, Daniel."_

 **XxXxXxX**

Walking into the doors, Danny didn't expect anything special, maybe a few shops, that's it. But, after reaching the other side of those glass doors, his jaw dropped. Two floors of stores, glass and tile around every turns. Shops after shops, restaurants sporadically placed, and throngs of people caused the teen to just stand in awe.

Course, that didn't last long, as Tucker started to drag his accomplice through the large complex of glass. It wasn't until they stopped walking that Danny realized he now stood in front of a darkened store, with black walls and large neon signage. Inside, bright lights shone through, beckoning the teens inside.

Noticing that Tucker had stopped his pace, he also stops, eyes still locked on with the darkness ahead. Looking over his shoulder, Danny saw that his acquaintance had stopped to talk to else. Someone familiar to the duo.

"Hey, Danny!" Sam cheered, waving as she got up from her seat on a nearby bench. She looks past Tucker, smiling towards Danny. Noticing, the black-haired teen waves back silently. "Ready for some laser tag?"

"Ah, I guess I'm ready as I'll ever be!" he responds, perplexed, shrugging his shoulders. It surprised him how fast these two teens were to welcome him with open arms. Danny had expected to be a loner; to go through his new life of high school without any friends in particular. It was nice to be welcomed by the two, and to be part of their 'yearly end-of-summer tradition'.

"You've done laser tag before, right?" Tucker now asks, his excitement growing, showing that this appeared to be his favorite part of the day. With an anxious expression, Danny shakes his head slowly, eyebrow raised in confusion. The duo's eyes widen in shock.

Placing a single hand on Danny's left shoulder, Tucker turns and starts walking the raven-haired inside the dark store, shaking his head with a look of pity. Sam is still very shocked, walking alongside Danny's right side.

"Well, we're about to change that." Tucker says with a mischievous smile, his glasses lenses glinting from the disappearing mall light.

After being led to a desk up to the front of the store, Sam and Tucker register themselves with the employees, who appear to recognize the two. They then help get Danny registered, and prepare to head into the arena for the upcoming round.

While the trio waited, Sam and Tucker explained the rules to clueless Danny. It seemed pretty simple to him; hold the gun, pull the trigger, aim for the glowing and blinking body pads. All while running, hiding, and making sure you didn't get shot yourself, of course.

But, not too long until the next round started did the wave of chills return, however slightly colder this time around. Sam and Tucker whirled around to the entrance from the sound of a scream. It sparred Danny any questions about his odd breath, which they both missed seeing, while at the same time, caused him to become very worried.

On instinct, Danny leaps up from his seat and runs out of the laser tag place, not stopping until he was in the middle of the large walkway again, noting the crowds running in almost all directions except for the one the teen faced. Looking ahead, the teen cocked an eyebrow, but instincts also told Danny to look up. Doing so, what he sees causes his insides to turn rigid.

They were just floating there: the ghosts from the previous evening. Except this time, they had brought some extra friends, bringing their numbers up to five.

"Danny, what are you doing?!" Sam yells as she runs to Danny's side, almost tripping on her boots. Its not until she reaches Danny's side that the girl sees the rotting ghosts, going silent. Tucker follows behind her, his steps hesitant. He sees the ghost immediately, eyes locked in on them like a beacon.

"What a-are those?" the african-american asked nervously, almost terrified of the creatures. He lifted one shaky finger, pointing towards the creatures, which hadn't noticed the trio yet.

"...ghosts..." is all either Sam or Tucker can make from Danny's hushed response, his expression turning sour. All either of the other two teens could figure out was that these creatures, ghosts(?), had provoked their acquaintance somehow.

Suddenly, the ghosts spot the trio, causing them all to screech loudly, so much so that some glass shook and shattered in nearby store windows. Following this, the ghosts launched themselves at the teens, flying like bullets. With almost the same speed, Danny instinctively grabbed his peers' hands and took off, turning down into another stretch of stores. What few people were still out and about noticed the teens running, and took off into the stores for any protect they could offer.

"Danny," Tucker blurts between breaths, "We...gotta find...a place to hide!" he looks around the stretch of mall, hoping to see any space in any of the stores, or even in some nook.

"Tucker's right, we have to lay low 'til those things leave!" Sam chimes in, looking over her shoulder. At the same time, the ghosts reappeared, letting out another glass-shattering scream. "Or 'til the police get here!"

"The police won't do anything!" is Danny's automatic response, in a sudden flash of anger. A familiar flame ignites in his body, adrenaline searing through. He looked between the two, eyes narrowed. "You two need to find a place to hide; I have a feeling these ghosts...are after me."

Hearing that shocks Sam and Tucker. "Why would ghosts want to be hunting you?" Tucker asks, running extra strides to keep up with the other two.

"My parents are ghost hunters," Danny says, unable to think of a reasonable explanation, "They probably want revenge or something..." Lying was definitely not Danny's forte.

Turning down another smaller stretch of shops, the teen spots a vacant, for-sale shop, and grabs the door handle. Flinging it open, he runs inside. Tucker and Sam follow without a word, cramming through the door. Sam grabs the inside handle, and slams the door shut. The ghosts let out another loud roar from outside, loosing their prey, and then went silent.

The entire mall was silent, as well as the dark store was silent.

"So...those really are ghosts?" Sam asked quietly, shock starting to settle in as she lets go of the door handle. Her dark eyes were wide, staring at the ground.

"Yeah." the raven-haired boy says nervously, biting on his lip." Now...I'm just getting you guys in the soup..." is commented quietly, causing Tucker to frown at Danny's old-fashioned language.

Danny looks between Tucker and Sam, when Sam's eyes widen even further.

"Woah, Danny, your eyes are glowing!"

Now its his turn to be shocked. Danny had heard of ghosts with the ability to see in the dark, something he never really knew if he possessed. "What?"

The vacant room was dark, save for the small amounts of light filtered through the construction paper on the windows. But, as Tucker looked over as well, he noticed that Danny's ice-blue eyes had turned into a glow-in-the-dark green. "Sam's right; its like your eyes became light bulbs!"

Now Tucker was curious; no person could see in the dark, or had green eyes like that. On top of that, at the theater, he could've sworn he saw Danny's breath turn blue as the two headed towards the movie. He never said anything, and figured the boy was cold. Now, Tucker was suspicious.

"Never mind that," the raven-haired teen says hesitantly, trying to push this topic aside. He didn't want the two too start questioning. "You guys need to stay here and wait till someone comes to get you. I'm going to lead these ghosts out of here, okay?"

Now, Tucker was barely keeping himself together. "Are you kidding? You'll be killed!"

"Tucker's right!" Sam agreed, her eyebrows shooting down and her arms crossing, seemingly almost naturally. "We aren't leaving you to go become ghost meat!"

Shaking his head, Danny hated to start any sort of conflict between himself and Tucker and Sam. These two were the closest things to friends he had since he came back to life. "We're just chewin' the rag now," he starts. "Please, just stay here. I-I can explain as much as I can later-"

Although, Danny knew he wouldn't be telling the two anything about himself for a while. Until the time came that he knew he had their trust, he'd have to live with the guilt and sensation of lying directly to them for a while.

Hearing Danny's offer, Sam looked over at Tucker, a conflicted look in her eyes. Tucker looked back, shrugging his shoulders. He looked just as worried as her; but he was curious. They hadn't found out much about Danny the previous night at Nasty Burger; this was their chance to figure this boy out.

Yet, with this confirmation from Danny himself, Tucker felt satisfied. Danny trusted them, even if he didn't realize it.

"Alright then, Danny." Tucker starts, stepping forward in a new form of confidence. "It may seem odd to say, but, you have my trust. Do you trust me?"

Looking down at Tucker's hand, Danny stared at it, trying to figure out what to do next. He quickly figured out the meaning, and clapped his own right hand against Tucker's. He'd barely known these two for a day, and already, Tucker trusted him? A flood of relief came through. Maybe...maybe he would tell them...

And, for the first time in a century, the dark-haired teen cracks a genuine smile. "I trust you."

 **XxXxXxXxX**

After giving a promise to Sam with some sort of explanation, Danny was allowed to leave the two in the vacant store, much to her annoyance (and Tucker's curiosity). They wanted to help, and as much as Danny would've appreciated it, these ghosts were his mess, his problem. He didn't want these two involved with ghost-fighting. Although, at this point, it was waste of a goal.

Before the accident, the only ghosts that ever appeared in Amity Park were those that came through another portal that had opened up elsewhere else in the area. And that number was slim to none. Now, these ghosts, who Danny had never seen before yesterday, were roaming around in a pack. Did that have to do with the accident as well?

Walking through the now empty mall, the place felt like a ghost zone (no pun intended). The benches lined in the center were almost pleading for company. Danny was even debating on sitting and waiting for these ghosts to show up.

Suddenly, a collection of screeches erupt from behind the teen, causing him to whip around. Spotting the rotten ghosts, Danny takes off in a run again, leading the five in another chase sequence.

His plan was to get a large amount of distance, and then see if he could trigger yesterday evening's transformation. While he barely had any idea how he changed, he knew that it enhanced his physical capabilities and allowed him to touch and fight ghosts. It really was an ironic scenario; ghosts fighting ghosts.

But, if Danny was unable to do anything, which he expected, he'd stall out until the police arrived, or preferably, ghost hunters like the Fentons.

"Gee-whiz, did these things get faster?" Danny exclaims to no one, noting the distance between the two becoming smaller, despite sprinting as fast as he could. Two of the ghosts launch their tentacles towards the teen, causing him to jump and duck in attempts to avoid them. It was almost a repeat of the previous evening.

However, one tentacle trips the teen up, and he stumbles. Instead of smacking face first onto the tile, he instead rolls across the floor instinctively, coming out in a crouched position, almost ready to launch a counterattack back against the ghosts.

"How do I keep doing this?" the teen mutters, still awed by his reflexes. He never remembered being this good, both as a ghost or alive.

Now, all of the ghosts started letting tentacles fly, all aimed for the boy's head. Some barely missed Danny's head as he scrambled to get up. Doing so, two, maybe even three, rammed straight into his gut, sending him flying backwards plenty of feet, and even causing small indents in the tile floors.

Landing which a large crash, Danny slowly stands up, the fire in his soul starting to grow again. While he had no external injuries besides the cut on his cheek, he knew the aches from the previous night would return again. The bruises would be worse, but he didn't have any broken bones; thank goodness.

"C-crap..."

The octopi ghosts came flying in again for more attacks, but this time, instead of dodging, Danny got hit over and over. They had gotten faster; how, he didn't know. He didn't really care about dodging, since they were so much faster than him; he did care about surviving.

Well, even if he did, he'd be in bad condition. Both Tucker and Sam would blame themselves for not helping him, and then Sam would argue that they should've helped him. She could get her point across; Danny learned that last night at the Nasty Burger.

 _Last night._..

After the beating he received last night, he didn't want to go through that again. Today was supposed to be a day where he could 'hang out' with Tucker and Sam, get to know them, and get the friends he never had in his previous life. He was tired of being made fun of, or faking his way, like he did with the boys at the schoolhouse.

Wait...how did he remember that?

The realization hits Danny like a wall of bricks. The early morning came to mind as well; the dream he had of the older boys laughing at him, calling him dumb and the mentioning of his father, and how worked up Danny had gotten...it wasn't a dream. It had actually happened. It was a memory of his past. But how?

What had happened to him exactly, that day in the portal?

Suddenly, the internal flame expanded and burst, causing the white rings to appear and adrenaline to pulse. Once they disappeared, all of the ghosts are suddenly sent back a few feet by a blast of air and wind. No longer is Fenton standing, but instead, the form of his past; the form of a white-haired, jumpsuit-clad teen with some pretty good experience in fights.

Feeling the aching in his lower abdomen almost gone, as well as the bruises dusted across his body , Danny turned to the ghosts, smiling again as his now-green eyes flicker with excitement.

"Let's cut the crap, huh?" he mutters, pounding his fists together in a new wave of confidence, eyes narrowing.

 **XxXxXxXXxXxX**

 **corker- something excellent; outstanding**

 **in the soup- in a mess, in trouble**

 **chewing the rag- to spend time talking**


	6. Day One

**Hey guys, I'm back!**

 **I"M SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG. SORRY SORRY SORRY.**

 **Stuff came up, the ending is rushed, and I wrote this over the length of a month. Oh goodie goodie. And, for the sake of my life and time, I didn't send this to my normal beta, which I FEEL TERRIBLE FOR. So, Dawn my friend, know that you are getting the next chapter. YOU SHALL.**

 **Thank you so much to my reviewers, favoritors, and followers! And to the people who have just picked this up; thank you so much!**

 **Disclaimer: If this was mine, the show would still be airing. So, obviously, its not mine.**

 **XXxXxXxXxXXx**

The rest of the evening went pretty smoothly, if Danny got to say so himself.

The five ghost octopi were definitely not easy to fight; those things sprinted around like frantic bugs. It took a lot of energy (and jumping) to beat those things down.

Luckily for Danny, only about ten minutes after he'd 'Gone Ghost' did the emergency personal show up. The Fentons followed right behind them, riding in their special tank-like car they announced as the 'Fenton Defensive RV'...or something like that. Either way, Danny didn't care to remember it all.

The police came in, wielding riot gear and loaded artillery. They shouted commands and ordered each other around, directing to the different stores with people inside. Meanwhile, Jack and Maddie ran in, guns blazing, quite literally. They shot multiple times in random directions, not even noticing the five ghosts, as well as Danny, nearby.

As for the five other ghosts, the ghost boy just tied them up, and left them for the Fentons. While he could directly fight them, the teen had no ways of capturing the quintet securely. The resident ghost hunters must've had something in all of their death contraptions to do the same.

While Danny had left the five ghosts for his 'parents', he didn't escape their sights. As he flew back in the direction where he'd left his acquaintances, he'd managed to catch the eye of Jack. And, with Jack being as ghost-crazy as he was, his jaw dropped and eyes went wide, and became as crazy as a fangirl at a convention (whatever those are).

"OH MY GOSH, MADDIE DID YOU SEE IT?!"

"See what, sweetie?"

"THE GHOST BOY, MADDIE! IT WAS A GHOST BOY!"

"Y-Yes, Jack, I-I'm sure it was. Now, we need to get these ghosts here-"

"BUT THE GHOST BOY WAS REAL!"

"Jack.."

"WE NEED TO FIND THE GHOST BOY!"

It was a very embarrassing scene, to say the least.

After being able to change back, exhaustion covering his body, the teen returns to Tucker and Sam, who were beside the wall, sitting with their knees pulled to their bodies. Almost immediately after the door opened, both stood and ran over, concern obvious on their features.

Before any real conversation could begin, the blue-clad officers managed to get to the store, finding the trio, and lead them out from the mall with other crowds of people. Sam had tried to mention Danny and the ghosts chasing him, but the two guys quickly silenced her before she could say much. Danny was then separated from the two by his parents, who put him in their 'RV' before he could say a single word.

After his parents 'cleared the vicinity', they drove the teen home, all three in silence. Guilt started to bear down on Danny; he hoped to at least talk to Sam and Tucker. He wasn't able to say a word. It wasn't like he could connect with them either; both mentioned some 'm-m-o-r-p-g' thing that was 'online' called Doomed. As it turns out, both played often. Obviously, Danny did not. And, without a 'smartphone' he had no way of texting them either.

So, with no way to contact the closest things he had to friends, Danny was left alone until the first day of school.

The last few days weren't too bad; in fact, the same darn ghosts kept escaping and flying across town. Over the few days he had, the teen managed to try and learn his new powers even more, finding that when he was exhausted, angry, or upset, he would 'go ghost' in response. This, Danny assumed, was because his ghost form was his normal form, the one his body was accustomed too. The day before school started, Danny could barely keep himself from turning back into a ghost because he was so tired.

So, throughout the days, he started to keep his emotions in check, often reminding himself to keep calm. Sometimes, though, he made some slip-ups. He still had a long way to go, after all.

Quickly, another hurdle came Danny's way; the start of high school. On top of trying to control his human side, he had been cramming the past century into his head, filling it with presidents, wars, people, and plenty of other things. It was shocking how much information had too be crammed in one person's head nowadays; he didn't know how anyone did it.

But, the first day came, and as soon as his bedroom door was shut, Danny heard Maddie stir from the floor below. By the time he was downstairs, she almost had her arms wrapped around him, a large grin across her face. Before anything weird could happen (the teen watched Maddie finishing a ghost radar of sorts across the table), Danny ate his cereal and got his school supplies together.

That was when the weird started.

Just as Danny was about to leave, both Jack and Maddie stood behind their son, radar pointed directly at him. The machine whirled and blinked, and it spoke; Ghost Ahead. Almost immediately, Danny cringed, and became frozen in place. He backed up as they walked forward, heeding the machine's words. Soon, the teen was backed into a literal corner, eyes darting from the small box to his parents and back.

When Jack and Maddie reached the conclusion that their radar was pointing at their new son, both frown at their machine. Both wanted to ask Danny what immediately formed in their minds; if he were a ghost. But, that idea was shot down; even Jack knew, their boy was human. Sure he already had his run-ins with ghosts recently, but he and Maddie had arrived and saved him before anything happened.

Almost to assure both, Danny even said "Its a lie. I'm not a ghost."

Noticing Danny in a tight corner, Jazz came bargaining in, ranting about her 'mental psychology' and 'making a terrible impression on this little child'. While Danny didn't mind her breaking up the building tensity, he did mind being called a 'little child' and being left with a 'terrible impression' by his 'parents'.

Before anything else could happen, Jazz grabbed Danny's bookbag, her's already slung over her shoulder, and almost pushed him out the door. Of course, with his luck, the dark-haired teen had found himself sprawled across the sidewalk in seconds. The Fenton daughter had shouted something back at her parents, and slammed the door shut. She stormed down the front steps, helped Danny to his feet, and proceeded to drive him to school.

Course, Danny's misery didn't end there.

He went through his first classes late for every single one (having a map would've helped), not to mention getting some attention as not only the 'new kid', but as the son of the Fentons. It was not surprising to Danny that the Fentons...weren't exactly well-renowned in Amity Park. Heck, even one of Danny's teachers even said his name during roll call with a venomous hiss. Were Jack and Maddie really that much of an annoyance?

But, the social atmosphere here was definitely stressful, more so than anything Danny had felt before (although, that wasn't really saying much). The grades were small, and everyone knew everyone. Teen used their phones (Danny finally learned what those odd devices were) to take pictures, chat with one another, and other tasks. It was impressive, but scary as well; students were attached to these things, and like the teen had seen in class, students always snuck them into class.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that changed. The classwork and homework was much, much harder than anything Danny had ever had, even with the cramming he had done after nabbing Jazz's old books. He had two classes in the morning; Math was like a whole other language, a language that he wasn't understanding any time soon. The second was science of all things; the only class he felt confident in. He could understand the new information easily, and picked up on it pretty quick, despite not really knowing that ' _mitochondria was the powerhouse of the cell_ '. He'd gotten a high score on the 'benchmark', and it seemed to impress the teacher.

Classes went by pretty fast, but seemed to slow down the closer lunch came. But, as the bell rang, and he snuck out, Danny had not only food on his mind, but his two acquaintances. He was nervous to approach them; he hadn't talked to them in days, and he still felt bad about the aftermath at the mall.

On his way towards the cafeteria, however, a tug on his backpack causes the teen to stop, noting that both Sam and Tucker had come up from behind him. Almost immediately, the large pit of guilt returns.

"So..." Sam starts, taking her spot beside Danny as he resumed walking towards the eating hub. "How's the first day for you two?"

"Oh, don't even-" Tucker starts, holding up a single hand. "I got stuck with Bruckweier as my math teacher, and Harvey as my German teacher! Not to mention the entire class trying to figure out 'What are those?' in German."

Hearing Tucker's description, Danny raises a brow. Looks like he had to look up 'What are those' tonight.

"I know it in Spanish," Sam replies, sounding not too happy. "I have Senora Rodriguez. She's...terrible to say the least. And the class itself.."

With silence between the two, Danny decides to add his two cents. "Science was okay; my only issue is with my math class..."

"Why?" Tucker perks up.

Danny frowns. "Remember that kid from the assembly? Blond hair, pretty tall, and in some disgusting jacket?" he describes, his anger boiling at the mere thought of this peer.

Both Sam and Tucker look at Danny in shock and disgust. "You mean Dash Baxter...is in your math class?" Sam manages to ask, stumbling through her words.

With a heavy head, Danny nods his head, turning to head up a staircase leading to the second floor. Both of his peers gasp, Tucker almost tripping on the stair from stopping in his tracks in dramatic surprise. Catching up, the boy places a single hand on Danny's shoulder, and proclaims "May the gods' luck bless you, child.'

Finding the number of students thinning out as they reached the top, the raven-haired teen lets out a sigh. He had to tell the two eventually; he owed that to himself and Sam and Tucker. Course, what confused Danny the most was that they weren't questioning him or probing for information.

"Hey, guys..."

Both Tucker and Sam look up, open for discussion. "What's up?"

"T-there's something I've been meaning to say..." again, Danny leaves his sentence unfinished. Was he really going to get through with this? What would they think? Would they even believe him? Would he be ridiculed or-

"Is it about the whole thing at the mall last week?" Sam assumes, one hand snapping to her side. Before Danny had anything to say, Tucker adds in his own two cents.

"Don't worry about it," he says, "While I have no idea what your 'business' is, its obviously something personal. We all have stuff like that. Like Sam's collection of stuffed bean-"

A swift jab in the side by Sam is enough to quickly silence Tucker, as he starts to fall to the ground over-dramatically, clutching his side. He reaches towards the air, pretending to gasp for breath before falling and pretending to die. Danny raises a brow as Tucker keeps his position, and glances over at the goth girl beside him. She waves it off, and turns away.

"He'll be fine." Sam assures to the perplexed Danny, "Just mention technology or meat and he will-"

"MEAAAAAAT!"

In a flash, Tucker is back on his feet, eyes wide and alert. Danny jumps, staring at him for a few seconds before relaxing. Sniffing around, the techno wiz stops, and smiles.

"You had sloppy joes for dinner last night, didn't you Danny?" he questions, a large grin spread across his face, as if he knew the answer.

Again, Danny is surprised. He actually had had those 'sloppy joes' (which were very good) the previous evening. How did Tucker even figure that out? "Impressive!"

"Speaking of food," Sam adds from behind the two guys, her own mischievous smirk forming. Did all teens have one nowadays? "There's been a menu switch."

Tucker storms over to the girl, rage storming in his eyes. "What do you mean 'menu switch?!" he questions, both angry and desperate almost.

Sam continues, almost happy to see her friend upset. "Tucker, its time for a change.."

Tucker gasps, and grabs Danny's arm, pretending to sob. A smile tugs at his face. Sam continues walking on, the raven-haired new boy in suit as he dragged his paralyzed friend towards the cafeteria, their destination.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Public school eateries were disgusting things sometimes. Danny quickly found that out first hand.

Almost immediately upon walking inside, he was hit with an unfamiliar stench. He didn't know what it was, where it came from, or who was responsible; but, it was almost like a distant cousin of Limburger cheese. Both Sam and Tucker appeared to be immune to the stench, so, Danny decided to not question and continued forward. The tables were not very clean, and trash littered across the floor.

Tables were lined across the room, all filled with the different cliques that made up an American public high school experience. As they walked to a table in the back, Danny watched as Sam listed each one in order; the band geeks, the real geeks, the jocks. When they passed a table labeled as the 'A-Listers', his insides twisted. Dash was there, talking to girls and guys alike, appearing almost nice. Quickly, Danny looked away before he was noticed, his left hand forming a tight fist in fiery anger.

To put it lightly, Dash had not let up on Danny during math class. Thus, the raven-haired teen was not too happy to see this kid get what he wanted.

Eventually, the trio reached a table that was claimed for the 'lowest of the low' in the social school standings. Course, no one was sitting at the table; it was reserved for Sam and Tucker, and now, Danny was added on the list.

Course, he didn't mind.

The next part was actually getting the lunches. He followed what his classmates did, getting a tray, pulling the food off he wanted. But, there really wasn't too much...and...it didn't look to appealing either.

Tucker almost lets out a scream. "What...is THIS?!" he questions, pointing to Sam the food that had been placed on his tray by the lunch lady behind the counter.

It appeared to be a piece of simple bread...but, instead of turkey or cheese...it appeared to be grass. Real grass, like the sorts animals ate. Straight from the ground.

"What's wrong with it?" Sam argues, offended. "It's just grass on a bun!"

The trio returns to the table, the goth girl fuming now. Danny takes an end seat, Tucker beside him, and Sam across from them both.

"Not to be rude," Danny starts, staring at the food on his own tray, which mirrored Tucker's, "But, what diet is this, to be exact?"

He figured that as time changed, people wouldn't be going ahead with food, and not turning to things like grass to feed themselves. Why would anyone want to eat like an animal choosingly?

With a disapproved frown, Sam crosses her arms. "I'm an ultrarecyclo-vegetarian!" she blurts, her tone saying that she'd already gone over this, despite her never saying a word.

"A what?"

Slyly, Tucker leans over. "She doesn't eat anything with a face on it." he whispers. Again, Danny makes an odd face, but shrugs his shoulders and continues on. People were all different in their own ways; some weirder than others.

"My question is-" Tucker starts, eye narrowing. "-the first day of school is always meatloaf. Why was the menu changed?!"

"Ah, well, my friend, it appears the town council voted for a new, healthy school menu." the black-haired girl begins, resting an elbow on the table, a very satisfied smile on her face. Before she could even add another comment, a sour gasp erupts from Tucker.

"..no...mea..t..." he barely chokes out, grasping his chest. "Wh..y? Why...wou..ld you do..that?"

Before either could say anything, Danny can't help but laugh. Course, when he sees the two acquaintances of his staring at him, he tries his best to hide his laughter. He doesn't succeed very well; in fact, it even gets noticed by the wrong crowd.

"Oh look, its ' _Baby Fenton'_!" a familiar screech cries across the cafeteria, causing the raven-haired teen to cringe at the first sound.

While conversations continued, the student body almost divided itself perfectly in half, allowing a path to be formed. Along that path strutted Dash Baxter, followed by a beautiful Latina girl, another big-headed brute with dark hair, and a fourth african-american girl. They all had smirks of superiority across their faces, which worried the trio as they all were walking their direction.

"Look who the cat dragged in..." Danny mutters, quickly turning to his 'food' on the tray. He'd learned that saying from Jazz whenever he would enter her room to borrow her books to learn off of. Or when he couldn't sleep.

Once arriving at the trio's table, Dash slams a large hand onto the table, causing the trays to move slightly. "How's your first day in hell, Fen-toenail?" the blonde boy asks, a mischievous grin forming.

"Why would you care?" Danny responds quietly, using as much self-control as he could to try and not punch the kid in the face. Out of his entire math class, Dash was the one who sat behind Danny, creating a very traumatizing and terrible experience. The entire class was full of insults being spoken to him, with the nearby students sniggering in agreement.

While sitting there, Danny could feel that familiar angry soul flame of his become ablaze again; only while he was angry, tired, or conflicted had the sensation occurred so far. During the time before school, the teen also worked on trying to keep the sensation under wraps. He didn't want to suddenly turn into a ghost of sorts in the middle of class. Oh, how the world would laugh if that happened.

"I just wanted to-" Dash starts, before noticing Sam and Tuck sitting near him, each with their own glares. "Well, it looks like you found your people, newbie."

Now, Danny shoots the high school jock his own icy stare, which is blown off as the Latina girl taps Dash on the shoulder.

"The pies, remember?" she says quietly, an accent obvious in her voice.

With a sudden grin, Dash pulls out a tray of brown stuff out of nowhere (Danny couldn't figure out where it came from), and places it on the table between the 'lower level' trio.

"I almost forgot, Fenton," the blond continues. "Thanks to your girlfriend here-" he motions over to Sam. "-when I ordered three mud pies today, I was given three mud pies. With mud. FROM THE GROUND!"

"I'M NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND!" is Sam's shriek, a light pink dusting her cheeks. Silently, Danny raises an eyebrow, careful not to ask about this 'girlfriend' that was obviously different from his own definition. "AND ITS TOPSOIL!"

"Its garbage, Sam." Tuck and Danny say in unison. "It's garbage."

"And speaking of garbage," Dash starts, putting the tray of brown stuff in front of the black-haired teen, pushing his own lunch on the floor. "I figured trash like you would like such a delicacy as this. So...eat it."

"Oh, and why should I?" Danny replies, rolling his eyes. Out of the corner of his perception, the teen sees back into the school kitchen, noticing that it was empty. A small green flash erupts from inside the preparing area, and catches him by surprise.

Kitchens just didn't glow green. Nothing ever glowed green naturally. Well, nothing except for...

Suddenly, Danny is picked up by the collar of his shirt, held up off of his seat by Dash's fistful of cotton. His limbs go limp as he stares down at the blond haired jock, whose other fist was prepared to throw a punch. "You willing to find out?"

Nervously, the scrawnier teen raises his hands, a universal symbol of surrender. With a smirk of satisfaction, the jock sets Danny down, almost dropping him back into his seat. While being dropped, a shiver shoots through the teen's spine, almost turning into the blue mist. That wasn't good.

Looking back into the kitchen, ignoring the pain in his tailbone, Danny spots a ghoulish figure in the kitchen, walking around. In the form of a person, their skin was a sickly green.

No doubt about it now; it was a ghost.

How did it get into the school? Danny should've been able to realize one had gotten into the building. Maybe, it just came now But...why now out of all times? He didn't have time to deal with it now! He was in the middle of...eating mud! If he didn't...who knows what Dash would do?

He just needed a distraction...

"Eat it." Dash demands proudly, placing a fork beside the tray of mud. Taking up the silverware, and exchanging nervous glances between Tuck and Sam, Danny prepares to intake the 'food'. However, a large crash erupts in the kitchen, dishes and other assorted items shattering. Everyone in Dash's posse, and the trio as well, turn and look as a reflex.

With Dash turned away, Danny grabs the first mud pile in his hand and throws it at the back of the popular jock's head. The brown stuff splatters across his jacket and his yellow hair, his hands shooting towards the back of his head.

"G-Garbage fight!" Danny exclaims, almost everyone in the cafeteria over-hearing. In anger, Dash whips around to grab a pile of mud, hurling it towards the dark-haired teen. Instead, Danny ducks underneath the table, and the mud goes sailing into a kid at the next table over.

Within seconds, a full-blown food fight begins. Milk cartons, banana peels, almost anything is sent hurling across the room. Shouting is a given, and chaos is everywhere. Almost impressed by his distraction, Danny, almost forgotten about, begins to crawl on all fours towards the entrance of the kitchen. He would handle this ghost quickly, get back to class, and everything would be just fine.

A tug on his shoulder causes Danny to pause. Both Sam and Tucker are right beside him.

"Dude, where are you going?" Tuck asks, having to raise his voice over the shouts above.

Danny freezes. "N-Nowhere in particular...anywhere to get away from Dash really."

Tucker frowns, not buying his friend's excuse. After all, who wouldn't if the person kept glancing at the kitchen for some reason. Obviously, Danny had seen something in the kitchen, at he had to go check it out.

Again, he was going to go off on his own; just like at the mall. Did this have to do with that? Does this have to do with ghosts?

"Take us with you then!" Tuck exclaims, pulling on Sam's leg and bringing her down underneath the lunch table. She had been standing up for her diet, but appeared to have lost.

Danny pauses, hesitant to answer. He didn't want the two to come; he was planning on taking on the spirit and trying to move it away from the school. He would handle it later. But, for some reason, a part of him wanted the goth girl and the tech geek to tag along. He wanted to tell somebody, to release this secret so he didn't have to bottle up his frustrations.

During those days between the mall incident and the present, Danny had definitely had his trials and tribulations, involving mostly keeping his odd side, his ghost side, hidden.

"Alright," the black-haired boy surrenders, "Let's go."

Keeping an eye out for flying food, Danny sets out, crawling across the dirty tiles of the cafeteria floor. Dodging a banana peel, he reaches the door separating him from the inside of the school kitchen. Behind him follows Tuck, and Sam, who has little idea what the two are doing on the floor.

Once at the door, Sam jumps up and stares through the glass, not finding anything inside, besides lunch trays with leftovers. She frowns, and looks back at both of her friends, puzzled.

"May I ask what we're doing in the kitchen?" the goth girl asks. "We could be halfway to next block by now!"

Danny goes to reply, but Tucker beats him to it. "Danny thinks he saw a ghost in there!" he replies, Sam's eyes growing wide.

Tensing up, Danny bites his lip. How had Tucker figured that out? He didn't say anything about a ghost in the kitchen to him! Maybe...he saw the figure through the window? Even worse, did he realize what he had done at the mall?

"A-a ghost?" Sam utters out, both a combination of shock and laughter. "Are your _new_ parents rubbing off on you already? There's no way a ghost would be here!" She makes sure to keep the word 'new' quiet.

Danny frowns. "Well, we're about to find out."

He pushes the dark-green door open, the hinges creaking. Almost immediately, the revived teen's breath turns blue, visible for his acquaintances to see. Course, this shocks the two, and their gasps are drowned out by the closing door and the muffled shouts from the lunchroom as they shuffled inside.

"Did you see that?"

"Yeah, it was something blue!"

Ignoring their comments, the raven-haired teen looks over the glass pane separating them from the insing food fight. A large window blind flashes over it, causing the room to become darker. With Sam and Tucker spooked (no pun intended), Danny walks forwards and turns the corner. Almost immediately, he sees the eerie green figure towards the back of the room, dressed in an apron, yellow gloves, and a hairnet, holding a cookbook and mumbling.

It was a ghost lunch lady.

"Oh my god..." Sam whispers beside Danny, hands over her mouth. She definitely wasn't expecting this. Nor was said ghost kid or Tucker either.

Suddenly, the ghost lady stirs, turning and spotting the trio. She quickly floats over to the three, a very concerned expression on her wrinkled dead face.

"Excuse me, children," she asks gently, "Today's lunch is supposed to be meatloaf. But, it appears that it is nowhere to be found. Has it already been eaten, or-" her tone darkens. "has the menu been changed?"

Again, with no thought, Tucker answers. "Yeah." he then points to Sam, "She changed the menu."

"Hey!" Sam cries out, almost slapping the techno geek across the face. "Way to single me out!"

Danny almost slaps a hand to his face (he believed it was called a 'facepalm'). If there was one thing you didn't do to a ghost, it would be angering them. And, Tucker did just that. Oh, Danny had many words for his acquaintance right now.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

With a raise of her gloved hand, piles and piles of plates and trays come flying at her command, building behind the lunch worker for her to use as ammon, her eyes replaced with angry flames. Danny breathes blue, and suddenly the eating plates come crashing down on all three of the teens, causing them to duck down.

Danny quickly dodges a few instinctively (he still didn't know how so), and starts trying to make his way towards the back of the kitchen. There, he'd be safe to change forms; as long as Tucker and Sam agreed to keep his secret.

Noticing that Danny was moving away from them, and the ghost following, Sam and Tucker slowly head opposite way, Tuck getting underneath a cart and hiding there for a bit. Sam runs as quick as she can, hiding behind the ovens until she found the area clear to continue on.

The plates and trays never end their barrage, the lunch lady screaming and raging on. "WHY DID YOU CHANGE THE MENU?! IT WAS TRADITION!" she screamed, summoning forth forks and spoons now, and preparing them to launch the different teens in different directions.

As the lunch lady starts regrouping her arsenal, Danny races over to the other two. This ghost had been targeting him as soon as Tuck ticked her off; maybe she could tell he was a ghost? Great.

"Hey, you two wouldn't mind keeping a small, little secret would you?" Danny asks over his shoulder, that ever-so-familiar internal soul flame beginning to build in strength. It always awoke whenever his breath turned blue; his ghost sense going off.

Noticing the two shaking their heads behind him, he lets out a small sigh, and a smirk of sorts forms. It was now or never; and he might as well go with now.

"Then, you might wanna stand back, as I'm..uh...going ghost!"


End file.
